Arthur Cofield Stole Millions & Escaped From Federal Prison + Female Waitress Fired For Taking A Tip

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:03]It's Wednesday.

[00:00:05]We made it halfway through the week, man. Hopefully, y'all are doing well.

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[00:00:10]And of course, you know what to do. Do me a favor. Drop a one in the chat if you can hear me. Drop a one in the chat if you can see me. We're going to get into it. We got a lot of stories to talk about today. We got some more into what's going on with the election right here in Georgia. We're going to hear from my guy Greg Dolezal, my favorite senator and the future lieutenant governor of Georgia. I'm calling it.

[00:00:28]We've got a crazy story with this guy that stole millions of dollars and then escaped from federal prison.

[00:00:33]Oh, man. Olive Garden employee that got a tip for $700 and she got fired because of it. I mean, we've got so many things we're going to talk about today. It's going to be a good time. So, if y'all could, please let me know that you're in here. But before we get into it, I got to say what's up to the people. We got all the amazing folks in the building.

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[00:02:17]Now, as you guys see in the title, this story about this man is hilarious.

[00:02:23]Now, I first start saw this story Amy reported on it over on X. So, if you guys don't follow her, make sure you do that at I Am Me Lee on X. And she she told me about this and this situation's crazy. So, we're going to talk about what's going on with this man, Mr. Arthur Cofield. We have a gentleman who was in federal prison for stealing millions of dollars and his name is Arthur Cofield. Not only was he in prison for stealing millions of dollars, but he decided that he had enough and he escaped. That is correct.

[00:02:51]This man escaped federal prison and he is still on the run after he committed this crime. We're going to tell you guys the full story, get into the background, and the FBI is involved. They're trying to find where this man is and get him.

[00:03:03]I've heard rumors that they actually want to hire him and figure out how he did it. But either way, check this out.

[00:03:08]Everything in Georgia says a Georgia man who stole $11 million from behind bars, guys. This is where the story gets crazy. He has escaped from federal prison. Arthur Lee Cofield Jr. went missing from a minimum security prison camp in Jesup, Georgia. I did not know there was a such thing as a minimum federal prison. Either way, authorities described him as a walkaway. What is going on here? I mentioned Amy T.L.

[00:03:32]She's going to give us the background of what happened here. If you don't follow Amy on X, make sure you do that to get the latest up-to-date news we cover here on the show and beyond. She says this, "He did it again. You cannot make this up. Remember Arthur Cofield, the legendary Georgia inmate who managed to steal $11 million dollars a billionaire movie mogul using a contraband cell phone from inside a maximum security prison. This really happened.

[00:03:59]He just escaped from federal custody. On Tuesday afternoon, the Bureau of Prison noticed that Cofield was missing from the minimum security satellite campus there in Jesup, Georgia, officially labeling him a walkaway. Let's remember how insane his original hustle was.

[00:04:15]While locked up armed for armed robbery, he posed as a billionaire Sidney Kimmel on the phone, bypassed uh Charles Schwab security, bought 6,106 gold coins, flew them to Atlanta on a private chartered jet, and bought a $4.4 million mansion in Buckhead, guys. This really happened. All with a smuggled cell phone. He was serving 11 years in federal sentence for the heist with an extra 18 years waiting for him in the state for allegedly ordering a drive-by shooting from his cell. Now he's out in the wind. The FBI and the US Marshals are actively hunting him down. Here's his description. He's 34, young man.

[00:04:58]He's 5'4" and 210 lb. So, that's a I don't know, running back there or something.

[00:05:04]So, the FBI is not only looking for this man, but they're actually offering a reward for him as well. The reward is $10,000.

[00:05:12]They say this, "FBI in Atlanta is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for the capture and conviction of Arthur Cofield."

[00:05:20]Cofield escaped from Federal Correction Institute in Jesup, as we mentioned, just a few days ago. He's has ties to metro Atlanta.

[00:05:29]He's also considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to contact the FBI, and they have the number there.

[00:05:36]So, now speaking of the FBI, let's actually find out what happened in this case because the most interesting thing out of this, which is hilarious to say, is not that this this broke out of or walked away from a minimum security prison, but that he got this $11 million. So, we're going to do some background and tell you guys what happened here. Check this out from the Northern District of Georgia.

[00:05:59]And they say this, "An Atlanta man indicted for stealing $11 million while he was in prison."

[00:06:06]Arthur Cofield and two others have been indicted for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. What happened? Cofield is currently serving a prison sentence in Georgia Correctional Facility in Butts County, Georgia. We now know he was in uh Jessup, Georgia.

[00:06:22]And he said they say this, "Some prisoners aren't interested in rehabilitation or paying their debt to society." Said the US Attorney, uh the US Attorney said, "The allure of millions of dollars in gold coupled with contraband prison cell phones allegedly was enough for Cofield to commit a brazen million-dollar fraud scheme from the confines of his prison cell." How in the world did this happen?

[00:06:48]"This elaborate fraud scheme is truly shocking in its scope and nature." Said Tommy Coke, the Inspector of uh the Inspector in Charge at the Atlanta Division. "The US Postal Inspector Service is committed to the US mail not being utilized as a tool for this type of fraud and to hold the responsible parties fully accountable for their actions." "The Secret Service worked closely with our partners and shared information and resources to ultimately bring this criminal to justice." And that was by Street Steven B, a special agent in charge of the Secret Service of Atlanta's Field Office. He said, "Today's indictments prove that there is no such thing as an as anonymity for those engaging in fraudulent schemes."

[00:07:31]Now, here's what happened.

[00:07:33]According to Attorney Pat, the charges and other information presented in court, Cofield is an inmate at the Georgia Diagnostic or he was in classification prison in Butts County, Georgia. He was serving a 14-year sentence at the time for armed robbery.

[00:07:49]He is also currently under indictment in Fulton County, Georgia charged with attempted murder.

[00:07:54]In June of 2020, using a contraband cell phone, Cofield obtained multiple means of identifica- identification for victim SK and gained access to an online account owned by SK and managed by Charles Schwab. This is how he was able to get the money.

[00:08:13]On June 5th of 2020, Cofield impersonated SK and called Charles Schwab customer service representative to inquire about opening a checking account. The customer service representative informed Cofield that a form of identification and a utility bill would be required to complete the verification process. At Cofield's request, a co-conspirator texted Cofield with a picture of SK's driver's license, a Los Angeles, California Department Water and utility power and power utility bill. So again, somebody was on the inside working against this guy. Had to be. That was the only way they could have got his driver's license.

[00:08:54]So what happened? 3 days later, on June 8th, Cofield submitted via email a purchase inquiry from Money Metals Exchange LLC, a precious metal dealer based in Idaho for the purchase of gold coins.

[00:09:09]Purporting to be SK, while communicating with representatives of Money Metals Exchange LLC, Cofield agreed to purchase 6,106 American Gold Eagle 1 oz coins for the price, yes, of 10,998,859 dollars and 92 cents. That same day, a female co-conspirator claiming to be calling on behalf of her husband, contacted Charles Schwab customer service representative, and inquired about the verification process to initiate a wire transfer of $11 million. Later, Colefield impersonated SK and called a Charles Schwab customer service representative to inquire about sending a wire transfer in the amount of $11 million during $11 million.

[00:09:57]During the call, Colefield falsely claimed to be SK and referred and referenced the earlier call made by the female co-conspirator. Based on these false representations, Charles Schwab embarrassed themself and wired $11 million from the account belonging to SK to an account controlled by Money Metals Exchange LLC.

[00:10:20]On June 13th, 2020, Colefield hired private security company to transport the purchased gold coins from Boise, Idaho to Atlanta by chartering a private private plane, he said. On June 16th of 2020, the private security team landed in Atlanta Signature Airport and met with the co-defendant Elridge Maurice Bennett.

[00:10:42]This was the co-conspirator.

[00:10:44]Uh Bennett presented a false identification document to the private security team and took possession of gold coins. This should be a movie. This is an amazing story. In July of 2020, Colefield contacted the land owner of a six-bedroom residence located near West Paces Ferry in Atlanta, Georgia and offered to buy the property for 4.4 million. The land owner eventually received approximately $720,000 in cash as a down payment from Elridge Bennett and a woman Colefield described as his wife.

[00:11:15]And that was uh Aliyah. Hopefully, I'm saying that right. Aliyah Bennett. At the closing on September 1st, 2020, Elridge Bennett conveyed conveyed the remaining 3.3 million in cash to the land owner. Arthur Colefield, 29 at the time. Elridge Bennett, 63, and Elia Bennett, 25, all of Atlanta, Georgia, were indicted on multiple counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. Both Elridge Bennett and Elia Bennett were arraigned before a US Magistrate Judge Justin S uh Justin S and Coffield is expected to be arraigned later. As we know, he was in prison and now he's escaped. So, again, this man got away with something that was absolutely I'm going to say hilarious. I don't think anyone was harmed in this case. You got a billionaire I I don't think people should take other people's money, but I'm sure he didn't lose any sleep over over this and they were able to recover the money. But now that this man is out and he's escaped, I wonder what he's going to be up to next. I mean, did he learn his lesson? Did he have something stowed away? Is he going to be able to get out of the country? I'm sure he's wishing he probably he would have done that in the first place. Let me know what you guys think about this in the comments in the chat. What a crazy story to start the day, man. Hey, listen.

[00:12:29]Listen.

[00:12:31]Again, I'm not going to say this on the internet, but when it's when it comes to things like this, no one was harmed physically, I don't know. You got to laugh about it, right?

[00:12:44]I'll just leave it at that.

[00:12:45]>> [laughter] >> Thank you for everybody who's in here.

[00:12:48]Please, guys, make sure you like the video on your way in. Likes are free. It helps us out a lot, all right? We got another story we're going to get into and this one is very interesting. If you hadn't heard about it, Amy's been reporting on this at length and we're going to actually get into some of the details of what's going on here uh with this situation, with this poor woman.

[00:13:08]Man, this is this is terrible. I feel bad for this lady. This poor lady lost her job because she received a tip.

[00:13:16]Um >> [sighs] >> I don't know how this happens. I don't know why this situation went down the way it did because it seems like it could have been easily prevented and maybe things just got out of hand, but we're going to talk about it here in a second. Again, if y'all haven't yet, please make sure you like the video as we get into this next topic. So, Olive Garden is facing some heat right now as they are dealing with some issues that they had with an employee who allegedly received a major tip. We're talking about a $700 tip from a customer who did it willingly, but there was some back and forth between the woman who received the tip and management, and she ended up getting fired for wanting to take this tip. Now, we're going to talk about what happened in this case. We're going to get into it.

[00:14:00]We're actually going to hear from the mother of the woman this happened to, and she's going to give the complete background and story not only of what happened in this situation, but her history her daughter's history with the manager that ended up firing her. Check this out. Amy reported this over on X.

[00:14:15]If you guys don't follow her, make sure you do that at I Amy Leon X. And she says this, "Atlanta Olive Garden, a single mother is terminated over a $700 tip. How's that happen? After being told she couldn't cash out a large tip, a server was fired the next day and received a letter from management. It raises serious questions for the Olive Garden.

[00:14:36]Is it standard policy to hold tips over $500 for up to, yes, 120 days? Can y'all imagine getting a $500, $600, $700 tip? You're like, man, I can pay my bill, and you got to wait 3 months before you can get it. This is crazy.

[00:14:54]Or is this something new? Amy's asking.

[00:14:57]Would love to hear from the other service industry workers. Have you ever seen a 120-day hold on tips? Well, I think most people probably haven't gotten a tip over $500, but let's get into it. So, now we're going to hear a story from the mother, and shout out to the person who posted this over on Facebook. They say this, "This is what the mother had to say. My daughter has worked at the Olive Garden for over a year. Yesterday, she received a $700 tip on a $30 tab and was obviously excited. A management A manager told her that they could not pay it out and then instructed her to write zero on the tip line until it could be verified. Guys, this makes no sense. And this is where this story for me already starts to go left. You should not be changing what a tip says, ever.

[00:15:44]I don't know. I'll have to hear from some lawyers and law enforcement on this, but I believe that's a crime if you change the tip amount on a receipt.

[00:15:51]So, again, I don't know if the manager told her that or not. If he did, it seems like it should be uh at minimum a fireable offense, but maybe that's just me. She became upset because no one could tell her how long it would take. She asked a co-worker to take her next table because she was visibly emotional. And management told her she could either she could either do her job or leave.

[00:16:14]Dang.

[00:16:15]She told the table and finished her shift. Later, they said they would give her a 20% uh they would give her 20% tip while the rest was reviewed. Well, that was nice of them.

[00:16:27]One manager said 1 to 2 days, another said 120 days. This morning, when she arrived at work, they decided to {quote} part ways with her over the behavior from yesterday and handed her paperwork stating tips over a certain amount are subject to manager review.

[00:16:47]Wow. They also told her it could take up to 120 days to receive that money and even called the police on her because she was crying and upset.

[00:16:58]Those who follow me will know that this is uh Kizo's mom, my 4-year-old artistic grandson's single mother. Wow.

[00:17:06]She was upset after being told she couldn't receive the $700 tip she had just earned and fired because her shift started today. That's just mean. Where Where was this paper yesterday to explain the protocol Olive Garden? And then she posted several pictures here and we're actually going to hear from the mother right now. Check this out.

[00:17:26]>> up the tab while the customer is still sitting there. So, she didn't notice it until after he left.

[00:17:31]And when she took it to the manager, the manager told her to put zero in the tab because that was just too much money to hand out. It needed to be verified.

[00:17:42]Didn't tell her anything about how long it would take or if she'd even get her money or when she would get it once it's verified.

[00:17:49]So, clearly she was upset because she's thinking that she's not going to get the money or doesn't know when she's going to get the money.

[00:17:57]And um asked one of her co-workers to take the next table because so she could regain herself. She knew that she was visibly upset and didn't want to greet her customers that way.

[00:18:07]Um her manager then said to her that she's here to do a job and if she can't do it then she needs to leave.

[00:18:14]My daughter then got herself together, went went and picked up the table, completed her shift, and at the end of the shift they then told her that they could give her 20%.

[00:18:25]So, they gave her $6 on the $700 tip.

[00:18:29]She calls me of course. She's upset. I said, "Well, if it's policy then you just have to wait. That's just what it is."

[00:18:35]>> Damn.

[00:18:35]>> You know, and she understood and that was that. So, I said, "But you do need to probably call and find out to see exactly what the policy is. Is it based on manager's discretion? Is it a corporate policy? You need to find out for yourself."

[00:18:49]So, that was the next step for today.

[00:18:52]Yesterday was Sunday. So, today she was going to go in, which she did.

[00:18:56]She went in, clocked in, and she said she came about 15 minutes early, 20 minutes early like she always does to wrap her silverware.

[00:19:05]And uh her manager, who is actually the GM whose name is on the building, um said to her that he couldn't clock her in early, that they needed to to discuss something with her.

[00:19:17]So, she already had a feeling. She calls me and was like, "Mommy, I think they're going to fire me. I'mma leave you on the phone because they want to discuss something with me." And I'm like, "Fine."

[00:19:27]So, she sits down and he immediately says, "She's over 18 and um, we don't have to discuss anything with you. Whatever she decides to tell you, she can tell you." I'm on the phone on the other end. I said, "Hello. Hi.

[00:19:42]How are you?"

[00:19:43]He goes, "Oh, hi. How are you? Yes, we'll discuss this with her and then she can pass the information on to you." I said, "Fine. That's fine."

[00:19:51]So, of course, she called me back hysterical, crying because they just fired her.

[00:19:58]She's struggling single mom, all the things.

[00:20:01]I'm helping her raise my grandson, Kenzo, who's autistic. He's four. So, those are all the things that are going through her head, that she's trying so hard, just got her apartment a couple months ago.

[00:20:11]And she's upset. So, she's like, "I don't want to leave because why all of the sudden do I have a $700 tip and I'm fired the next day?"

[00:20:22]So, they tell her, while I'm on the phone with her, that they're calling the police. And she's like, "Good, call the police because you're stealing my money."

[00:20:30]And I'm not a police I'm not the police I'm not the law, but as far as I knew, if you're holding over $500, it is theft.

[00:20:38]That's considered theft. So, I said, "Then stay there and wait for the police to come. Let them determine if that is, you know, stealing or not."

[00:20:45]Um, so I hang up with her. She's upset.

[00:20:48]I told her, "Don't even say another word to them. Be in your little space and wait for the police." So, I just got off the phone with her and the police did come. They did feel like she was in the right.

[00:21:01]Although they could fire her at, you know, their discretion. I believe Georgia is a will work at will state.

[00:21:06]They still do believe that it was a wrongful termination and that she should probably get a lawyer.

[00:21:13]It's just so sad and pitiful Olive Garden would have to do something like that to this young lady.

[00:21:19]Um my advice to her was, you know, to always keep your composure, gather yourself, be the adult because you still have to communicate what's wrong without emotion. So I would be pissed, too. I'm pissed for her.

[00:21:34]>> That's a lot of money.

[00:21:36]>> happened has happened. They're not going to invite her back. They're not going to give her her money tomorrow or tonight or whatever. We have to now figure out what the next steps are. So there's a lot of people when I put that post up with the receipt that it was a stolen post or it says Brooke on the receipt.

[00:21:52]That's her name. I'll tag her. That's her That's her Instagram Tik Tok name, Brooklyn.

[00:21:57]Uh or but all of that doesn't matter.

[00:22:00]It matters is that this man whom my daughter said has been coming for her it fired her.

[00:22:10]>> And before she keeps going, it's also been alleged that there were documented issues that the daughter has had with that same manager. Her The manager calling her names, the manager saying inappropriate things to her. So maybe this was just the excuse that they needed. Because he wasn't getting what she he wanted. Who knows?

[00:22:28]>> Another thing that she told me which pissed me off probably more than the $700 is about a month ago she was um waiting in the front to get a table and there was a waitress coming through and she said to everybody, "Watch out, there's a waitress coming um cuz they were all crowded in the front." And the same manager said to her "You need to watch out, you know, because you're And she's like, "Mommy, he made a gesture and my coworker was like, 'Well, what is that supposed to mean?'"

[00:23:00]And she said he says to her, well, [clears throat] you know, she's wide.

[00:23:05]I said, what the what? I said he called he said what he wide? He called you wide?

[00:23:12]She's like, yeah, she said I was so offended.

[00:23:15]And so I went to tell another manager.

[00:23:19]And she confronted him and said, what did what did you say to her? Like you shouldn't talk to her like that.

[00:23:25]And he said, well, I was just telling everybody there's a wide load coming through. And her and her co-worker like, no, you called uh Kayla wide. You said she was wide.

[00:23:38]And he said the other manager, which is actually underneath him, said, well, you should apologize because that wasn't very nice of you to talk to her like that. And he says to her, well, I apologize if you feel that way.

[00:23:49]That's not what I meant.

[00:23:51]>> Dang. What do y'all think about this?

[00:23:52]It's kind of ridiculous that this happened. I mean, they could have just [clears throat] given her what she earned. And especially it's clear that the customer was trying to help her out.

[00:24:02]Maybe they knew her story. They frequented there. They wanted to bless her in some way. And I can't imagine that the policy says what it says. Even if it does, I mean, this still could have been handled differently. And unless she was over there throwing tables, I don't know why they would have let her go. Either way, let me know what you guys think about this in the comments in the chat, and we'll give you the follow-up as soon as we hear what happens. I can