I Was America's Biggest Illegal Bookie — Then Got Banned From Every Casino in Nevada | Mathew Bowyer Pt. 2
2026-06-21 | 2h 6 mins.
Matthew Bowyer is back. He just got out of federal prison camp — and in Part 2 of his conversation with Ian Bick he's holding nothing back. Matthew opens up about what his nearly 6 months inside actually looked like — the stories nobody expected the prison politics the gambling economy behind bars and how he was labeled a snitch inside. Then the conversation shifts to what comes next. He owes nearly $10 million to the IRS with interest accruing at $60,000 every single month. He's been placed on Nevada's Black Book — banned from every casino in the state. He breaks down his biggest gambling swing ever how casino comps actually work the truth about counting cards why automatic shuffling tables hurt your odds and how to get a better edge at the casino. This is the most raw and revealing conversation Matthew has ever had.
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#casino #truecrimecommunity #gambling
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Thank you to NOCD for sponsoring this episode: If you're struggling with OCD or unrelenting intrusive thoughts, NOCD can help. Book a free 15 minute call to get started at https://www.treatmyocd.com/
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Watch Part 1 With Mathew Bowyer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-U0P85OuwI
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Connect with Mathew Bowyer: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mathewbowyer5/?hl=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MathewBowyer5 Website: https://mathewbowyer.com/ Buy His Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLHM4GJZ?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_4MK75VR7J921G59H32J0&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_4MK75VR7J921G59H32J0&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_4MK75VR7J921G59H32J0&bestFormat=true&csmig=1
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Timestamps:
00:00 America's Biggest Illegal Bookie Just Got Out of Federal Prison — Matthew's Full Story Part 2 02:00 Adjusting to Life After Federal Prison and What That Transition Really Looked Like 04:41 Preparing for Self Surrender and What the Days Before Prison Really Felt Like 07:52 His First Day in Federal Prison and What Nobody Prepares You For 12:12 Navigating Prison Politics and Cars — How It Really Works From the Inside 16:00 Prison Culture and What Settling In as America's Biggest Illegal Bookie Actually Required 24:34 Daily Life Jobs and the Relationships That Defined His Time Inside Federal Prison 32:00 The First Days Shock and the Emotional Impact Nobody Talks About Publicly 39:00 Family Guilt and What Maintaining Relationships From Inside Federal Prison Really Looks Like 44:00 Contraband Phones and the Prison Economy That Governs Everything Behind Bars 54:00 Prison Gambling and Bookmaking — America's Biggest Illegal Bookie Inside Federal Prison 01:01:00 Drug Use Vice and Discipline Behind Bars — What Most People Never Hear About 01:10:00 Prison Tablets and Technology — How Modernization Is Changing Federal Prison Life 01:16:00 Nevada's Black Book — What Being Banned From Every Casino in the State Really Means 01:22:00 Owing Nearly $10 Million to the IRS With $60K Interest Accruing Every Single Month 01:29:00 His Honest Reflections on Gambling the Regrets He Carries and the Lessons That Changed Everything 01:43:00 Casino Strategies and the Discipline That Separates Winners From Everyone Else 01:55:00 The Lessons He Learned and What Finding Peace After Federal Prison Really Required 01:59:00 His Final Message on Second Chances Advice and the Mindset That Got Him Through Everything
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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I Tried to Rob a Bank — Then Ended Up in a Texas Prison | Steven Trevino
2026-06-18 | 1h 40 mins.
Steven Trevino grew up battling opiate and pill addiction — and when the money ran out he made a desperate decision that changed everything. He tried to rob a bank. Then a civilian. He got caught by state police and then the feds — and ended up spending over three years in Texas state and federal prisons. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, he opens up about what surviving Texas prisons really looked like — race fights gang threats and being targeted for refusing to fall into prison politics. He rolled with the Paisas and navigated one of the most dangerous environments imaginable. Then came 20 days in segregation after a prison fight — and the spiritual awakening nobody saw coming. He came out of that cell a completely different person. Released in 2020 with nothing — no license no car and strict parole conditions — he built himself back from absolute zero. And he did it by starting a business called I Scoop Poop — your dog's business is his business.
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#BankRobbery #truecrimecommunity #prison
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Connect with Steven Trevino: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steven.trevino.3572/ Website: https://www.iscooppoopdfw.com/
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: From Top Salesman to Federal Prison 03:35 How Sales Success Fueled My Addiction 05:55 Hooked on Prescription Pills 09:02 Heroin Addiction & My First Rehab 13:13 Rock Bottom: Losing My Job, Seizures & Crime 16:01 The Botched Robberies That Got Me Arrested 21:22 Facing Federal Charges & Real Prison Time 23:31 Surviving Racial Politics Behind Bars 26:06 Prison Fights & How I Made Peace 32:32 Solitary Confinement & Finding Faith 40:32 Divorce & Reinventing Myself in Prison 49:01 Parole, Transition & the Politics of Getting Out 58:01 Walking Out: Rebuilding Life From Zero 01:03:03 Starting My First Business After Prison 01:11:19 Love, Relationships & Redemption 01:14:47 Scaling the Business & Learning to Win 01:27:01 A Second Federal Case & the Lessons It Taught Me 01:29:29 The Biggest Lessons From It All 01:33:01 Faith, Contentment & Final Thoughts
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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I Was a CIA Officer for 18 Years — Here's What They Never Tell You About the Job | Charles Finfrock
2026-06-17 | 1h 45 mins.
Charles Finfrock grew up with one dream — to become a spy. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Charles takes us through the extraordinary journey it took to make that dream a reality — from the US Navy to the National Air Intelligence Center to 18 years as a Senior Operations Officer at the CIA living and working across Europe the Middle East and Asia. He pulls back the curtain on CIA interrogation tactics and how to spot when someone is lying — skills he used in some of the most sensitive operations conducted at the direction of the President. He opens up about what nobody talks about — leaving the CIA with no support no follow up and a wave of trauma that led to struggles with alcohol. He shares how he rebuilt — moving to Tesla where he built their Insider Threat Program before founding Vigilance his own intelligence and security firm in 2018. He also gets into the cyber security threats most people don't take seriously enough — what to actually worry about with AI the Nancy Guthrie case and accessing home video systems whether your phone is really listening to you and what corporations and individuals need to know to stay safe.
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#CIA #CyberSecurity #truecrimecommunity
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Connect with Charles Finfrock: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-finfrock-302021109 Website: https://vcci.io/charles-finfrock/
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Timestamps:
00:00 Former CIA Officer Finally Tells the Truth About What the Job Really Looks Like 02:27 His All American Upbringing and the Early Aspirations That Set Everything in Motion 05:27 His Path to the Military and What That Journey Really Looked Like From the Beginning 09:00 Military Boot Camp SEAL Ambitions and the Realities Nobody Prepares You For 13:10 From SEAL Training to Navy Law Enforcement — the Unexpected Path That Changed Everything 16:18 His First Assignments in Bahrain and the Early Lessons That Defined His Career 19:40 Developing the Investigation and Interrogation Skills That Would Define His CIA Career 23:09 Moving Beyond the Navy — Education and Setting His Sights on the CIA 27:27 Getting Into Intelligence — the Student Years Mentors and Internships That Opened the Door 32:09 Joining the CIA — the Preparation the Culture and What Public Perception Gets Completely Wrong 38:00 The Impact of 9/11 on His Training and How That Moment Changed Everything About the Job 43:24 His First Field Assignments as a CIA Officer and What That World Really Looked Like 47:00 The Reality of the Job — the Early Excitement and the Daily Grind Nobody Talks About 51:40 Living Undercover — the Psychological Difficulty of Secrets and Hidden Identity 54:52 The Interagency Relationships and CIA Ethics That Defined How the Job Really Works 59:41 Career Longevity and What the Transition From CIA to Civilian Life Actually Required 01:03:40 The Mental Health Struggles and Bureaucratic Disconnect Nobody in Intelligence Talks About 01:09:01 Coping After CIA Service — the Reinvention and Finding New Purpose That Followed 01:14:11 Corporate Security and Insider Threats — What Life After the CIA Really Looks Like 01:20:31 The Tech Threat — Privacy Data and What Everyone Needs to Know About Everyday Security 01:32:00 Digital Forensics Data Deletion and What Your Car Knows About You That You Don't 01:36:07 The Life Lessons and Advice for Success He Learned From a CIA Career 01:38:53 His Final Reflections and What He Wants Everyone to Take Away From His Complete Story
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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I Was a Soccer Mom — Then I Got 32 Felonies | Lara Love Hardin
2026-06-16 | 1h 50 mins.
Lara Love Hardin had the perfect cul-de-sac life: a million-dollar home, kids, the soccer-mom routine. What no one knew was that she and her husband were funding a heroin addiction by stealing their neighbors' credit cards. When the police finally knocked, she was charged with dozens of felonies and became inmate S32179. In this conversation, Lara takes us inside her descent into opioid addiction, what her time in county jail was like and the unlikely path that took her from a jail cell to ghostwriting New York Times bestsellers and an Oprah's Book Club pick for her own memoir, The Many Lives of Mama Love. We talk addiction, shame, the criminal justice system, second chances, and how she rebuilt a life most people thought was over.
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#addictionrecovery #TrueCrime #secondchances
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Connect with Lara Love Hardin: Website: https://www.laralovehardin.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laralovehardin/?hl=en Book: https://www.amazon.com/Many-Lives-Mama-Love-Stealing-ebook/dp/B0BPDNW33W/ref=books_amazonstores_desktop_mfs_author_smart_catalog_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=NMLe6&content-id=amzn1.sym.aec507cb-142c-4f68-9ae5-803b8e7b33f1&pf_rd_p=aec507cb-142c-4f68-9ae5-803b8e7b33f1&pf_rd_r=136-6178201-4449817&pd_rd_wg=GRZoL&pd_rd_r=3432d7e9-c686-4577-8237-d731c18fd71a
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: Laura Love Harden's Story 00:30 Her Childhood and Upbringing 01:45 Escaping Through Books and Education 03:42 Family Secrets No One Talked About 06:07 Trying to Fit In During High School 07:00 College and a Fresh Start 08:48 Marriage, Motherhood & Quiet Struggles 09:54 The First Painkillers 11:02 The Hidden Pattern of Family Addiction 13:45 Fighting Pill Addiction—and Denial 16:26 Sobriety, Remarriage & New Beginnings 17:41 The Day She Found Out: Heroin Relapse 20:08 The Rapid Downfall Into Crime 22:15 What Daily Life as an Addict Was Really Like 24:50 How She Justified the Crimes 27:02 The Arrest That Broke the Family Apart 31:15 First Days in Jail 36:33 A Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars 41:03 The Legal System and Family Fallout 47:00 The Plea Deal & Gender Disparities in Sentencing 53:13 Motherhood, Shame & the Community's Reaction 01:00:02 Life After Jail: Rebuilding From Zero 01:11:20 Starting Over: A Career in Literary Agency 01:20:28 Facing Stigma & Earning Redemption 01:26:20 Advocacy and Supporting Incarcerated Women 01:33:01 Writing the Modern Memoir 01:38:18 Regrets, Lessons & Parenting Reflections 01:41:45 What's Next: Fiction and TV
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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I Was in Prison With Mackenzie Shirilla — Here's What She Was Really Like | Kat Crowder
2026-06-15 | 1h 32 mins.
Kat Crowder grew up in Alabama with an alcoholic father and started getting into trouble as a teenager — eventually getting sent to a troubled teen program that was supposed to help but couldn't prepare her for what came next. When she got out her father took his own life. That loss derailed everything. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Kat tells the complete story — from her teenage years spiraling into identity theft check fraud and in and out of Tennessee jails to eventually catching a case in Ohio and spending nearly a year inside an Ohio state prison. But what makes her story completely unique right now is who she was locked up with. Kat was in Ohio prison with Mackenzie Shirilla — the subject of the viral Netflix crash documentary — and she went viral for sharing what Mackenzie was really like inside. The Netflix documentary got it wrong. Kat was there. This is the complete unfiltered truth.
Thank You To CASH APP For Sponsoring This Episode: Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/6pao71et #CashAppPod Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton debit flex card, and Bancorp debit flex card. Discounts and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.
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Connect with Kat Crowder: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@boujeebehindbars Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boujeebehindbars/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@boujeebehindbars
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/
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Timestamps: 00:00 She Was Locked Up With Mackenzie Shirilla — Kat's Complete Story 02:30 Her Struggles at Home and the Teenage Turmoil That Started Everything 05:30 The Rebellion the Troubled Teen Program and the Family Tragedy That Changed Everything 09:30 What the Troubled Teen Program Was Really Like From the Inside 12:00 Coming Home to Find Her Dad Gone — Grief and the Coping Mechanisms That Followed 16:20 College Substance Abuse and the Escalating Behavior That Nobody Could Stop 19:30 The Legal Troubles That Started the Criminal Justice Cycle She Couldn't Break 24:30 Probation Drug Court and the Setbacks That Kept Setting Her Back 28:20 The Criminal Lifestyle and the Consequences That Finally Caught Up With Her 32:00 The High Speed Chase and What Jail Really Felt Like for the First Time 36:00 Getting Pregnant in Jail and the Turning Point That Changed How She Saw Everything 41:00 Sentencing Day and What Heading to Ohio State Prison Actually Felt Like 45:00 Her First Impressions of Ohio State Prison and What Nobody Prepares You For 47:40 What Women's Prison Is Really Like — The Truth Nobody Talks About Publicly 50:30 The Prison Programs That Kept Her Out of Trouble and What She Learned From Them 53:00 Being Locked Up With Mackenzie Shirilla — What She Was Really Like Inside 57:00 Prison Hierarchy Gossip and How Perceptions of Mackenzie Shifted Inside 01:00:00 Contraband Relationships and the Everyday Challenges of Ohio State Prison 01:05:00 Prison Hustles and Pen Pals — The Underground World Nobody On the Outside Sees 01:09:00 Ohio Prison Food Commissary Life and the Halfway House Transition 01:15:00 Coming Home — Reuniting With Family and What Moving Forward Really Looked Like 01:19:00 Why She Finally Decided to Share Her Story Online and What Happened Next 01:22:00 The Lessons She Learned and the Reflections That Changed How She Sees Everything 01:25:00 Rebuilding Family Bonds and Her Advice to Anyone Who Needs to Hear It 01:26:30 Her Final Words and the Message She Wants to Leave With Everyone Watching
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To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Real stories from the people everyone else judges first. Locked In with Ian Bick is a podcast hosted by Ian Bick, a former federal inmate turned podcaster. The show features raw conversations with former inmates, recovering addicts, bikers, law enforcement officers, attorneys, investigators, and people who have lived through crime, prison, addiction, trauma, and redemption. Each episode dives deep into real prison stories, life inside prison, the criminal justice system, street life, addiction recovery, mental health, and what it takes to rebuild after incarceration. Guests share what really happens behind bars, how people survive prison, and the difficult road to second chances after hitting rock bottom. If you’re interested in prison stories, criminal justice experiences, life after prison, and honest conversations with people who have lived through the darkest chapters of their lives, you’ll feel at home here.
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