THE FBI whistleblower who helped bring down a global drug cartel is prepared to hand the man he sent to prison a chance at redemption - in the boxing ring. High-stakes gambler RJ Cipriani, aka Jackpot, was sucked into the nefarious world of Owen Hanson, the former USC football walk-on who became a drug lord operating a money laundering and illegal sports gambling business worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a wild, almost unbelievable, story that involved the tragic suicide of an associate of Hanson's who was unwittingly dragged into the sorry mess.
Between Hanson being charged in 2015, after being apprehended at a golf course in San Diego, and 2017, there were 1,000 arrests, with 800 occurring in a single day. This dramatic period is the focus of an upcoming Sony scripted series, executive produced by Cipriani, Nick Stoller, Conor Welch, and Jamie Canniffe. Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg 's production company is also very interested in producing a docuseries for Amazon.
Read more on cartels Hanson was sentenced to 21 years in 2017 and was required to forfeit $5 million to the authorities, which included $100,000 in gold coins, luxury vehicles, jewelry, vacation homes, a sailboat, and stakes in several businesses. Cops also found six encrypted cell phones that had been purchased from a Canadian company being investigated for allegedly supplying their technology to organized crime gangs, But, after serving just seven years in a federal prison in Englewood, Colorado, Hanson is a free man. He is broke, repented, and desperate to rebuild a life that spiraled out of control.
Most read in The US Sun And he's conjured up the wildest of ideas. "We spoke on the phone, and he asked if I wanted to have a boxing match. That way we could raise money, which would help him because he's broke," Cipriani told The U.
S. Sun. He's 62 years old with a torn rotator cuff and a back that needs surgery.
But Cipriani is up for the challenge. "Now, I used to box at a gym in Philly, but injured my shoulder and back in a car accident," he continued. "I told him I need a year maybe, but I'll box.
He thinks I'm kidding, but I'm not. I will fight him for money and give most of it to charity." BOMBSHELL REVELATION The U.
S. Sun can also exclusively reveal that, according to Cipriani, someone implicated in the case of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani 's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is alleged to have taken over Hanson's sports-betting racket when he went to prison seven years ago. "The details will shock the sports world," he said.
College prospect Hanson needed little encouragement to turn from sports star to ruthless crime boss. One which became so twisted that he desecrated Cipriani's beloved mother's grave in Philadelphia in a sick attempt to threaten the high-stakes gambler. But when Los Angeles-based Cipriani sat down with The U.
S. Sun to discuss the details of his involvement in Hanson's slide into criminality, remarkably, there was no bitterness or hate. FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE Cipriani, who dubbed himself Robin Hood 702 as he routinely gave large portions of his winnings to charitable causes (702 is the Las Vegas area code), is desperate to improve the world.
"I go after bad guys," he told The U.S. Sun.
"You got to be held accountable for doing bad things. And if you see somebody doing something wrong or terrible and he's your real good friend, you can't just look and walk away." Cipriani has walked in a world most people see only in films: a rollercoaster existence of high stakes, fast cash, and dangerous criminals.
Yet, there is an undeniable virtue in his endeavors. "You've got to try to make them think they're doing something wrong," he continued. "Make them rethink their strategy in life, and try to get people to be kind, gentle, nice, caring, and loving.
" "Because without it, this world is going to disintegrate with hate and with corruption and with crime." DODGY DEALINGS After college, Hanson, nicknamed O-Dog, created an online sportsbook called Bet-O-Dog. It was the start of a journey that would incorporate suicide, violence, and importing tons of cocaine into Australia.
As business boomed, Hanson began to venture into real estate, taking Charles D'Agostino, a family man from southern California, along for the ride. D'Agostino, however, wasn't aware of Hanson's dodgy dealings in the background. Upon the realization he had unwittingly become complicit, he hung himself at his construction site in 2017.
He was just 52 years old. "It was tragic," said Cipriani as emotions engulfed him. "I went to the funeral and saw his wife and kids enter the church.
Just heartbreaking." GLOBAL CHAOS Cipriani first met Hanson, who went from a tight end at college to supplying his teammates with steroids and other illegal substances, through Mexican bombshell Crista Velarde, an ex-girlfriend. Hanson had begun a ridiculously lucrative drug business in Australia - "he realized he could sell a kilo of cocaine there for $250,000, it sells for $20,000 in the US" - and in 2011 invited Cipriani Down Under.
The Philadelphia native, however, smelled a rat. He took a journalist from Fox News, with whom he wanted to document everything. He paid $20,000 to fly him first class from Los Angeles to Sydney and put him up in his own luxury suite at the Sydney Four Seasons.
It didn't go to plan. "He just disappeared," Cipriani recalled. "He didn't end up writing a word.
" Cipriani was given $2.5 million to play blackjack which he thought would double in the hands of a gambling expert. He didn't initially realize, however, that the ulterior motive was to launder the cash instead.
"I lost the lot on purpose," he admitted. "It wasn't easy." SICK VENGEANCE Hanson, meanwhile, began to lose the plot.
He became violent and threatening. At one point, Cipriani received a photo. A man was filmed in front of his late mother's grave.
They had scrawled sick messages on the headstone and changed the date to one which, they said, would signify the day of Cipriani's death. "When I saw that, I realized I was going to put every one of these f**kng guys in jail," he said. "He thought he was going to intimidate me.
He didn't realize that I was David and take down Goliath's all the time. I got a track record of taking down guys who thought they were bigger, better, more connected, more powerful, and had much more money. "Guess what? They weren't.
" The crunch came in Australia. Cipriani tipped off the FBI, and Hanson's descent began. SECOND CHANCE Now he is out, however, the story continues.
Cipriani has spoken to the man he put behind bars. He knows he's broke, but despite everything the pair have been through, a second chance is in the offing. Initially, they made contact through a third party.
Cipriani was told about Hanson's dire situation and offered to give him $1,000, which was readily accepted. According to Cipriani, Hanson has been seen back in Los Angeles and Orange County, desperately trying to resurrect his life. He offered to pay his rent on an apartment in Orange County for six months to help him get his feet back on the ground.
Read More on The US Sun "I said to him, 'If you've reformed yourself and you're going talk to kids about how harmful drugs are, and you've changed your life, then I'll help you,'" he said. "I always hope for the good in people. And I'm hoping that he's changed.
But if he walks off the straight line, guess who will be there.".
