EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Television puts the limited series Jackpot in early development, inspired by the difficult life of high-stakes Philly gambler-turned-confidential FBI source RJ Cipriani (aka Robin Hood 702), the keystone to taking down a multimillion-dollar drug ring . Nicholas Stoller and his Stoller Global Solutions partner Conor Welch, along with Jamie Canniffe, are executive producers with Cipriani.
Nicholas Stoller
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A gambler known for giving away his winnings to the less fortunate, Cipriani’s chance meeting with an ex-girlfriend unwittingly got him into a money laundering scheme that ultimately led to one of the biggest deals in history. from the FBI, resulting in more than 1,000 arrests worldwide. The series follows the gamer, known to the FBI as “Jackpot”, as he navigates a mad web of characters who could kill him and his family unless he can bring them down first. . The series is presented as part Donnie Brasco and part Ocean 11.
Cipriani was a key domino in the FBI’s dismantling of former USC soccer player-turned-drug lord Owen Hanson’s violent former empire that spanned the United States, Central America and South and Australia. Hanson began selling recreational drugs and steroids to his college teammates in the early 2000s, which grew into a global network. Cipriani was instructed by Hanson to bet $2.5 million as part of the drug lord’s laundering scheme. Gambler lost all money – on purpose – playing blackjack, prompting Hanson to issue death threats, including sending Cipriani photos of his dead mother’s defaced tombstone, photos of his wife along with her information personal information and a video showing beheadings.
Hanson was arrested in September 2015 and sentenced in late 2017 to more than 21 years in federal prison. The drug lord was ordered to pay a $5million criminal forfeiture, which included $100,000 in gold coins, luxury vehicles, jewelry, vacation homes, a sailboat and interests in several companies.
One device used to take down Hanson was the Phantom Secure cell phone, which was designed and sold to criminals around the world. Hanson purchased several of these phones and mistakenly gave one to an FBI undercover agent, which blew the case into thousands of criminals being watched in multiple jurisdictions around the world by the FBI, at the inside and outside the drug lord’s case. The use of the ANOM phone led to the arrest of 800 criminals in one day in an undercover operation by the FBI and global law enforcement. Later, the FBI had the foresight to release their own encrypted phone and called it ANOM.
The breaking of Hanson’s ring spurred the development of two competing documentaries, one at Netflix as Deadline first told you, and the other at Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Archie Gips’ Unrealistic Ideas. with producer Van Echeverri.
Stoller’s Gay Romantic Comedy Brothers starring Billie Eichner had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, with the pic nabbing 89% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore. Stoller is the head of the comedy franchise that’s grossing $379 million globally Neighbors, forgetting Sarah Marshall, bring it to the Greek and the animated feature film storks. On television he was the EP of the Fox series The grinder and the NBC comedy series The Carmichael Show.
Cipriani is replaced by UTA. Stoller is replaced by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham.