Anthony Curcio

Anthony J. Curcio (born September 1, 1980) is an American author, public speaker, convicted robber, and former career criminal.

He graduated from Washington State University in 2004, married his high school sweetheart, had two daughters and later owned a real estate investment company based in Seattle, Washington.

However, he was living two different lives.

As his addiction progressed, so did his involvement in illegal activities.

By his mid 20s, Curcio had already organized several high-dollar thefts, scams, and loan-sharking other schemes.

Despite having completed four drug and alcohol treatment programs, ABC News stated that Curcio was spending nearly $15,000 a month on his increasing drug habit which now also included cocaine and benzodiazepines.

In 2008, Curcio was responsible for one of the most elaborately planned armored car heists in U.S. history.

He was eventually arrested and sentenced to six years in federal prison.

Upon his release from prison, he parlayed his criminal career into becoming a motivational speaker, in the field of drug abuse and crime prevention, speaking to students and athletes across the U.S.

Curcio was born and raised in Monroe, Washington.

As a teenager, he was popular and talented and voted captain of both football and basketball teams at Monroe High School.

Curcio broke many records in football and received several honors and awards for his play in both sports.

Curcio later went on to play football at his father's alma mater, the University of Idaho, which had been his childhood dream.

While returning a punt in practice, Curcio tore his anterior cruciate ligament, ending his promising college football career and introducing him to the powerful pain killer Vicodin.

Curcio quickly became addicted to the prescription pills.

Soon after, he began experiencing withdrawals and even injured himself intentionally by kicking an oak coffee table repeatedly in order to obtain more pills.

With family pressure, Curcio agreed to enter a drug/alcohol treatment facility.

After completing a 21-day in-patient program, Curcio, now sober, started his first business, called "Tony's Gaming", which bought and sold casino tables and other gaming merchandise.

Curcio expanded his business by leasing a commercial space and adjacent storage.

Within a few months of being open to the public, Tony's Gaming was unexpectedly shut down.

The Washington State Gambling Commission and local police raided Tony's Gaming and confiscated the inventory, stating that Curcio did not possess the proper permits.

Under increasing financial pressure, Curcio relapsed and began forging prescriptions on his computer.

He later became aware that the police raid was due to influence from a real estate broker who had financial interest in a local casino.

Curcio attempted to retain legal representation in the case but was denied services by local attorneys already debriefed by the real estate broker/casino owner.

Curcio and several of his associates retaliated against the casino owner by breaking into his businesses and removing computers, files and documents from the offices he owned.

Curcio continued to maintain an outward appearance that resembled a successful business owner and family man.

Curcio's real estate investment business took a heavy downturn when the economy collapsed in 2008, leaving him with several homes on the verge of foreclosure and vehicles near repossession among other outstanding personal debts.

For three months, Curcio observed a Brink's armored car as it made deliveries to the Bank of America branch in Monroe.

He took notes of the schedule, diagrammed locations of the bank's cameras, and noted the armored car's blind spots.

He also estimated how much money was being transferred to the bank and how much was being removed via ATMs.

He considered police protocol in responding to robberies and the location of the bank and decided on using a local creek to escape.

After weeks of hand-dredging the creek in Woods Creek and a failed practice attempt at using a jet ski for the getaway, he changed his approach and created a cable pulley system to quickly pull himself, and large bags of cash, upstream using a connected canvas-wrapped inner tube.

Curcio's planning culminated with an advertisement he placed on Craigslist a few days before the robbery.

The online ad sought 15 to 20 workers for a fictitious city cleanup project, promising $28.50 an hour.

The laborers were told to wear jeans, a blue shirt, work shoes, and a yellow safety vest.

The ad also told the applicants they needed to bring safety goggles and a painter's mask.

The ad directed them to meet in the Bank of America parking lot at the exact time Curcio planned to rob the armored car.

On September 30, 2008, Curcio, dressed identically to his decoy applicants, pretended to work the grounds near the bank.

Wearing a blue shirt, jeans, yellow safety vest, work boots, and painter's mask, he pepper-sprayed the Brink's armored car guard who was pushing a dolly loaded with money into the bank.

The pepper spray forced the guard to reach for his eyes and release the cart that held the money.