I met the man about 15 years ago. Guy could charm the birds out of the trees. And his lectures are OUTSTANDING!!
Does anyone know if he’s ever asked for/received a pardon fr his crimes? It’s been like 40 years now.
I have no idea, but don’t see why he deserves a pardon - he did the crimes, he did the time.
No.
And there’s no reason to pardon him - he did break the law, pretty spectacularly. I’m glad he’s spent most of the last few decades trying to do good rather than bad with his talents, but that doesn’t change history. I think he’s an example of an ex-con who’s turned his life around and been successful as an honest citizen but I don’t see where he deserves a pardon.
I read Catch Me If You Can before they DiCaprio’ed it, and towards the end it detailed that after doing time in one of the Scandanavian countries, his passport was revoked and he was deported back home as an unwelcome/illegal alien so he could serve his time here and not spend the rest of his life bouncing from country to country doing time.
Eventually he served his time in the States; the book further stated that once he’d done that, he couldn’t be extradited or serve time in other countries for the same crimes? It seemed a little odd to me (surely countries could find counts other than what he’d been convicted for in the States) but he has, as far as I know, completed his term and has worked with the Federal government and other groups on fraud and crime education and techniques/education - gone ‘white hat’ to borrow a term.
Err, forgot to add - since it seems that he’s covered, legally, and done, legally with all he had done in the past, there isn’t any reason for him to request a pardon unless there is a specifc job or security clearance he desires that would require a pardon rather than a simple satisfaction of his debt to society and subsequent ‘white hat’ work.
Looks like the wiki article on him confirms my memory of preventing further extradition, but doesn’t give me the detail I want - what if he leaves the US of his own free will, et cetera, rather than being deported.
I never said I thought he should be pardoned. I was just wondering if after 40 years he had applied for one. Let’s not turn this into a debate1
At the end of the copy of Catch Me If You Can that I have it has an interview section where he says that he got his passport back and he does business overseas. Since we haven’t heard of his arrest I would venture to say that he’s in the clear.
Seems you’re right. I’ve got a 7th edition printed in 2000; no interview but a short blobography that indicates he lectures world-wide.
Sad news: there is a new book out stating that his exploits were mostly made up:
I saw him give a lecture at WVU close to 40 years ago. It always seemed too good to be true, but like most con men he was entertaining as hell. “If someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
From the Wikipedia article titled “Catch Me If You Can (book)”:
In 2002, Abagnale addressed the issue of the book’s truthfulness with a statement posted on his company’s website which said (in part): “I was interviewed by the co-writer only about four times. I believe he did a great job of telling the story, but he also over-dramatized and exaggerated some of the story. That was his style and what the editor wanted. He always reminded me that he was just telling a story and not writing my biography.”
Well Abagnale has done a large number of lectures, TV interviews… which have also included these exploits.
Nice zombie.
Since I started this thread I have read articles where Abagnale said he has received pardon offers from the different Presidents and declined them all.
I have a paperback copy of the book that has a little note at the very beginning, on the page where they list all copyright and publisher information, that says something along the lines of “All events and people portrayed in this book are fictional.” When I read it, I wondered if that was just a standard bit of legal language that the publisher included to cover their ass if anything in it turned out to be totally made up - a legitimate concern, considering they were dealing with a famous conman - or if everyone involved, publisher included, knew that the tale was completely fictitious.
I’m sure the movie exaggerated even what Abagnale said, but I thought it was ridiculous when I watched it. I realize that this was the 60s and 70s but surely you couldn’t just buy a pilot’s uniform and show up and tell everyone to rock and roll, I don’t care how convincing you are.
But by all accounts I’ve read, including interviews with Abagnale himself, that’s exactly what he did.
I can see why he would do that. Since he’s served his sentences, he wouldn’t get any tangible advantage from a pardon. Quite to the contrary, it might hurt the reputation he’s capitalising on, that of being the smart criminal who tricked them all.
On the other hand, he could be simply lying again. I don’t think you can trust much of what he says without independent verification.
Before the hijackings started I imagine it was quite easy. Even after that a pilot’s uniform was a golden key at airports and on planes. He cashed forged checks and got free rides, he didn’t tell everyone to ‘rock and roll’.
If you are not familiar with him there are several clips from the movie which is supposedly about his exploits (Catch Me if You Can) at Youtube: