I Beg Your Pardon part 1

About this episode

The episode explores the harrowing story of Jerry Bush, a plumber who lost everything after encountering a drug smuggler posing as a loan officer.

Jerry Bush was a plumber from Virginia with fourteen employees, a wife battling cancer, and a business his father built from nothing. When a big construction job left him waiting on $350,000 he'd already earned, he did what you'd probably do. He looked for a loan. The man who picked up the phone was named Jonathan Braun. Before Braun found Jerry, he was running a half-billion dollar international drug smuggling operation. After he found Jerry, he froze his bank account, drained his father's retirement, took money from his 16-year-old son, and told Jerry his only way out was to win the lottery or die. And then things got worse. By the time it was over, Jerry Bush had lost his business, his savings, and nearly his life. Jonathan Braun had a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a personal butler, and a very powerful friend. What happens next will make you question everything you think you know about who the justice system is actually designed to protect and who it leaves behind. I Beg Your Pardon is a new investigative series from PRETEND. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Creative Babble, LLC

Topics covered

• true crime
• investigation
• justice system
• drug smuggling
• business loss

Keywords

• plumber
• drug smuggling
• loan
• justice system
• business loss
• Virginia
• investigative series

More episodes of PRETEND

• Chain of Command part 5 · June 9, 2026 · 30 min
• The Lottery Curse with Murder: True Crime Stories · June 5, 2026 · 5 min
• Chain of Command part 4 · June 2, 2026 · 43 min
• Chain of Command part 3 · May 26, 2026 · 34 min
• Chain of Command part 2 · May 19, 2026 · 32 min
• The Raid | From Deep Cover: The Family Man · May 18, 2026 · 40 min