Ep 19. Diagnosis: Blood Money//chicago Jailbrake

In American Greed season 10 episode 19, titled "Diagnosis: Blood Money//Chicago Jailbreak," viewers are taken on a wild ride through the world of white-collar crime. The episode examines the cases of two different fraudsters who found themselves in trouble with the law for very different reasons.

The first half of the episode focuses on a man named Clifford Carrol. Carrol was a successful businessman and respected member of his community, but behind closed doors, he was conducting a massive Medicare fraud scheme. He created fake medical billing companies and submitted claims to Medicare for services that were never provided. Over the course of several years, he raked in millions of dollars, using the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle full of fancy cars and lavish vacations.

Eventually, Carrol's scheme unraveled, and he was caught by federal investigators. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and forced to pay $23 million in restitution. But even behind bars, Carrol continued to try to swindle the system. He had a friend on the outside who helped him create another fraudulent scheme, this time involving a fake cancer diagnosis and blood transfusions. In the end, Carrol's greed and dishonesty caught up with him, and he was left with nothing but a criminal record and a lengthy prison sentence.

The second half of the episode shifts its focus to a daring prison break that took place at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago. In 2012, two men managed to escape from the high-security facility by using nothing but bed sheets and their own ingenuity. It was a bold and daring move that captivated the nation, but it wasn't long before the escapees were recaptured and sent back to jail.

What the public didn't know at the time was that the escape was actually the brainchild of a convicted bank robber named Kenneth Conley. Conley had been locked up at the MCC for stealing millions of dollars from a bank, and he was desperate to escape. He carefully planned the jailbreak, recruiting a fellow inmate named Joseph "Jose" Banks to help him.

Banks and Conley managed to shimmy down the side of the jail using knotted bed sheets, but their freedom was short-lived. Banks was caught just a few days later, and Conley wasn't far behind. Both men were sentenced to additional time behind bars for their escape attempt.

"Diagnosis: Blood Money//Chicago Jailbreak" is a riveting look at the lengths some people will go to in order to get what they want. Whether it's defrauding the government or breaking out of jail, the individuals featured in this episode of American Greed prove that greed can lead to some very dangerous behavior.