I thought film director Adam Leung might be the perfect guest for my weekly podcast, Dan's Talk. One of his films won the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest (SXSW) a few years ago. Another work he made earned him 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Adam grew up spending his summers in Sag Harbor and Sagaponack. His mother started renting here when he was 6 years old. And he returns to his old base from time to time, not only to meet his friends, but also to shoot movies here. A scene from his latest film, The Italian Caper, was shot on the beach in Sagaponack. And he also agreed to be my guest on “Dan's Talk.”
Anyway, before every podcast I go to Wikipedia or Google and read a little about the guests.
Leon stole a plane from a flight school in Thunder Bay, Canada, and took off in it. According to the article I found, this was 15 years ago in April 2009. He took off in a single-engine Cessna, headed south through Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri, ran out of gas six hours later, and landed perfectly on a road about 120 meters off Highway 60. A few miles southwest of St. Louis.
There was a photo of him. It didn't look much like him. However, he was 31 years old when he was arrested, so he may look older and different now.
Two F-16 fighter jets scrambled from a nearby air force base and attempted to bring him down. They flew side by side and gestured downwards. But Adam was having none of that. He was so depressed after his arrest that he thought he wanted to commit suicide by being shot down by one of the F-16s, he said. But they did not fire. The single-engine Cessna was not considered a threat.
But Leon flew over Wisconsin, forcing the evacuation of the state Capitol. After landing on a road in Missouri, Leon pulled his plane to the side of the road, turned it off, jumped out and hitchhiked to a gas station. There he sat in a booth drinking Gatorade and waiting to be arrested, which he was soon after.
“He must have been running through smoke when he landed,” one deputy is believed to have said of the five hours he spent in the Cessna.
The judge was not amused. Tracking and evacuating the plane cost the government approximately $230,000. For causing such trouble, a judge sentenced him to two years in prison, but he was released in December 2010. No further problems have been reported.
My podcasts are 20 minutes long, conducted via Zoom video calls, and available on DansPapers.com and YouTube. You can also listen on many other platforms including Podcasts, schnepsmedia.com, and Spotify. I've done nearly 200.
If you want to know more about Leon, check out this podcast. Before we started recording, I asked him what it was like to steal a plane and he said it was a different Adam Leon.
“There's a lot of Adam Leon,” he said.
I quickly changed gears.
“Do you know any other stories about Adam Leon's escapades?'' I asked.
“I was arrested by the FBI and charged with embezzling millions of dollars from unsuspecting people in Florida,” he said. “But it wasn't me either.”
“what happened?”
“I had to hire a lawyer to prove that I wasn’t that Adam Leon. I was able to find out who started this mix-up and prove that it wasn't me, and in the end they believed it and released me.”
“Did someone reimburse me for my attorney's fees?” So it seems to me that this was someone's misconception and they should have been held responsible. ”
“No one paid me back.”
“What did Adam Leon do?”
“I don't know exactly. But you can find out.”
“Has he been convicted?”
“i dunno.”
Over the past few years, I've interviewed celebrities, politicians, artists, musicians, authors, and real estate professionals. I'm sure you've heard of some of them.
As you can see, Adam Leung is a fascinating guy and it was a great interview. You should see it here.
For more Dan Rattiner stories, visit DansPapers.com/voices/dan-rattiners-stories.
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