NOTE: This story was first published on NYNewsPress.com.
By Dick LaFontaine with Richard Luthmann
Certain names are just not said. And with good reason. By their mere mention, you invite them into your life. Much like a magical spell gone wrong, those persons are bound to appear.
YouTubers Jeremy Hales (@WhatTheHale$) and Matthew Lewis (@ThatUmbrellaGuy or TUG) may have done just that in the recent feud with Hales’ neighbors Lynette Preston and John Cook. The two neighbors are embroiled in a contentious federal lawsuit brought by Hales.
In addition to controversy related to Anti-Semitism, TUG’s recent coverage of the “Bad Neighbors” case may have invited real problems for Hales and himself, including FBI involvement and the Italian Mafia, which the Government refers to as La Cosa Nostra (LCN).
Luthmann says Hales and Lewis, whether intentionally or not, have now entered a conversation that extends far beyond YouTube debates.
If their broadcasts have led certain figures to believe they are being targeted or exposed, the consequences could escalate beyond mere online feuds. In this world, words can lead to real-world retaliation, and neither Hales nor Lewis seems to understand the gravity of their actions.
The Backstory
In a recent episode of The Unknown Podcast, co-hosts Michael Volpe and Richard Luthmann engaged in a fiery exchange with attorney Bruce Matzkin about his defense of clients Preston and Cook.
Matzkin and his clients argue the case is a baseless attempt to generate content for Hales’ popular YouTube channel, What the Hale$.
Luthmann invited Hales and another YouTube content creator, Megan Fox, to comment in preparation for the media coverage, but he did not receive a reply. Before this caper, Fox and Michael Volpe were friends and fellow journalists, having co-hosted their own podcast together.
Luthmann wanted to know about the defamatory lawn signs central to the federal case. Neither Jeremey Hales nor Megan Fox were forthcoming with answers, even after Attorney Matzkin said he had a handwriting expert who said Hales made the signs himself.
Once Luthmann published The Unknown Podcast interview and sent a link to the coverage, Fox responded snarkily, accusing Luthmann of “bizarre” journalism and “not doing his homework.”
Luthmann called it “bullshit,” literally. He accused Megan Fox of becoming part of Jeremy Hales’ “Echo-Chamber.” Luthmann charged that Fox had abandoned journalism and had become a “Jeremy Hales groupie” with apparent “cult-like” tendencies.
He also accused Hales of anti-Semitic remarks directed at Bruce Matzkin, the lawyer representing Hales’ neighbors, referring to him with slurs like “Deuce Foreskin” and referencing stereotypes about his Jewish heritage.
Luthmann’s pointed email included a scathing assessment of Hales’ alleged behavior in the pending federal case, with three central questions: “Did he make the signs himself? Is he responsible for the calls to CPS? Does he hate Jews?”
“The whole case is those signs and the CPS calls,” Luthmann said.
He further criticized Fox for her inability to evaluate Hales’ actions objectively, questioning whether her loyalty to Hales was personal or professional.
Having followed Fox’s work previously, Luthmann says he is “disappointed” in her new direction. Luthmann compared Jemery Hales to Andrew Tate, exploiting others like his neighbors, Fox, and other YouTube influencers to make money.
Matthew Lewis (@ThatUmbrellaGuy or TUG), another Hales groupie, stepped in to defend Fox by attacking Luthmann, a former attorney, for his previous legal troubles.
Luthmann says he is the victim of “Democrat Party Lawfare.”
TUG spent over two and a half hours reading Luthmann’s legal pleadings on a recent podcast.
TUG did not mention only Luthmann; he noted many other names. The New York FBI Office and the EDNY US Attorney’s Office have previously said some are “extremely dangerous.” According to the Government, many have LCN ties or direct connections to known members of LCN.
According to law enforcement sources, mentioning certain names on the TUG podcast may have already caused “chatter” in New York organized crime circles.
That is where this story begins.
The FBI’s Discretionary Authority to Warn Potential Targets
The FBI’s decision to warn individuals who may be in harm’s way is discretionary, often depending on the agency’s assessment of credibility and feasibility.
In many cases involving LCN, the FBI has warned individuals who have made themselves potential targets. This is because the Government believes—whether founded or unfounded in a particular case—that the organization’s criminal activities are serious and dangerous. Courts have upheld this discretion concerning planned violent crimes, citing the Attorney General’s Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations.
Given this precedent, one must wonder whether Jeremy Hales and Matthew Lewis's (@ThatUmbrellaGuy) statements have already surfaced on the NY FBI Office’s LCN surveillance wires.
If federal agents know that particular LCN associates are interested in the “Hales Echo-Chamber” and its activities, they may receive a visit officially alerting them as such.
This begs the question: would Hales and Lewis inform their audience of an FBI visit, or would they keep it quiet, hoping their involvement goes unnoticed?
It further raises the issue of whether Hales and Lewis’ gratuitous use of others for content creation may have finally crossed a Rubicon.
We all know that New York Mobsters aren’t always well-behaved, especially when they think someone is “Throwing Heat” their way.
Full Faith and Credit or Lawfare
According to Luthmann, who has given TUG the nickname “Lewey,” TUG's recent coverage was “half-assed.”
“Lewey has taken to calling me ‘paint chips.’ I can only assume he thinks I ate paint chips as a child and have some mental deficiency. It’s a novel theory but easily disprovable. If I was mentally retarded, why did the Fed have to spend over $5 million to put me away?” Luthmann said.
Luthmann says he wants Hales and TUG to give him “full faith and credit” for everything the Government said about him or else concede they were peddling bullshit.
“What they were doing wasn’t journalism. It was half-assed ‘Gay Drama Club,’” Luthmann said.
Luthmann says their statements have pigeonholed them into only two real options about him regarding their “Echo Chamber.” He says that Hales and Lewis have put themselves in an “unwinnable” position.
“Option A is that I am a veritable danger and menace, and those I was around are even more so. They should expect a visit from the Feds, report it to their audience, and sleep with Glocks under their pillows," Luthmann said.
"Option B is that my case was weaponized justice and is pure bullshit from the DOJ’s ‘Lawfare Era.’ Their narrative and audience integrity require Hales and Lewis to choose which one it really is," Luthmann said.
Luthmann appears to be correct. Suppose Hales and TUG take the Government’s past allegations against him at face value. In that case, they must acknowledge that they publicly antagonized a whole slew of people connected to Luthmann, whom federal prosecutors have painted as dangerous figures within organized crime.
If they dismiss those allegations as political Lawfare, then they must concede that the FBI, the EDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office, the New York State Attorney General's Office, and the Staten Island District Attorney have engaged in a systemic campaign to take down an innocent man.
Either way, their credibility takes a hit.
“Hales and Lewis's inability to think strategically has led them into a trap of their own making,” Luthmann said. “If the FBI takes an interest in their activities, will they be honest with their audience about it? Or will they try to suppress the story, hoping it doesn’t gain traction?”
The Government’s ‘Record’ on Luthmann
The Government painted Luthmann as a criminal mastermind, involved in fraud, organized crime, violence, cyberbullying, and witness intimidation.
Former EDNY Prosecutor Moria Kim Penza argued that he weaponized his legal skills, online influence, and underworld connections to manipulate elections, harass rivals, and evade accountability.
Penza, now in private practice, gained fame for prosecuting Keith Raniere, the leader of the NXIVM cult. Luthmann knows Raniere from federal lock-up at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center.
“Look, #MeToo Moira is a WOKE shill. One of the first things she did in private practice was to sue President Donald Trump in the corrupt New York State courts. I think she’d blow Hitler if there were a chance at career advancement. Maybe Hales should give her a call,” Luthmann said.
Luthmann says he believes Penza is a “dominatrix in her spare time.” Or at least she was while she prosecuted him. He says that “quite a furor” erupted when she left the EDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Look, it will be easy for Kash Patel to find out what Moira left in her desk drawers when she left the EDNY Office. I’ll leave it at that,” Luthmann said.
In 2018, Staten Island Special District Attorney Eric Nelson argued that Luthmann was “the most prolific social media election manipulator in history.” That may have been true, at least until Mark Zuckerberg in 2020.
Luthmann's alleged ties to organized crime, threats of murder, bribery of witnesses, attempts to frame enemies for sex crimes, and his support for Donald Trump were central to the Government’s argument for his detention as a dangerous maniac.
“These Drama Fags like to dramatically read legal filings. Read the best ones. That way, there will be indisputable evidence if something unfortunate happens. Judge Jack Weinstein knew that I wasn’t an LCN associate, and they have nothing to worry about from me aside from truthful reporting,” Luthmann said.
He said Hales and TUG’s actions may be a “Rubicon crossing moment.”
“When these idiots start saying things to jam up ‘the Boys’ who the Government says are dangerous, they are reckless and without any desire for self-preservation. They think it’s content generation. But for some people, their fucking around means YEARS in the Feds, and that becomes unforgivable for some people in that circle. That’s why the Feds blanket-list the Italian Mafia as dangerous,” Luthmann said.
Dangerousness: Luthmann or Lawfare?
In 2017, the Government presented an extensive list of allegations against Luthmann, arguing he was dangerous and that nothing could ensure public safety.
Their claims painted him as a hyper-intelligent and psychopathic individual with deep ties to organized crime, violent tendencies, fraudulent business dealings, and a penchant for using the legal system as a weapon.
“My only crime was supporting Donald Trump with my entire heart, mind, and soul. I would go to jail for a thousand years to Make America Great Again. They only took four,” Luthmann said.
It remains a matter of contention whether these accusations were grounded in reality or simply part of a broader effort to neutralize a “political troublemaker for the New York Democratic Party” using Lawfare.
“Mafia Ties”
The Government alleged that Luthmann had ties to a prominent New York-based organized crime family. Prosecutors further asserted that he leveraged these connections to resolve conflicts related to his fraudulent scrap metal scheme, even going as far as paying $23,000 to organized crime associates to conduct a “sit-down” with members of “Chinese organized crime.”
According to the Government, Michael Beck, a known enforcer with LCN ties, later became an informant or RAT. The Government said Luthmann enlisted as “muscle” for debt collection efforts. Court documents reference that Luthmann was “unhappy” with the “limited means” of legal debt collections.
Luthmann was also accused of providing prison commissary funds to incarcerated members of LCN, reinforcing his alleged underworld affiliations.
“A Violent Threat”
Beyond alleged ties to organized crime, the Government painted Luthmann as a violent threat. He was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and gunpoint extortion of a cooperating witness named Guy Cardinale, a six-time felon who has since been exposed as posing as Wall Street financier Frank Rossi - with the NY FBI Office’s knowledge and assistance. His FBI handler is Special Agent Paul Tambrino.
According to the allegations, Luthmann lured Cardinale to his law office, where he was held at gunpoint and threatened. Beck allegedly pointed a gun at Cardinale’s head and knee, demanding $10,000 while instructing an associate to "blow out" the witness's knee.
Following the incident, Cardinale and his son reportedly received threatening text messages, reinforcing fears of retaliation.
The Government also claimed that Luthmann obstructed justice by hiding fraudulent business records in his law office, believing they would be protected under attorney-client privilege. When subpoenaed, he allegedly assured Cardinale that the incriminating paperwork had been destroyed.
Additional accusations included keeping a gun in his desk drawer, bragging about owning a Glock and shotgun for protection, being a Lifetime NRA Member, and using a private investigator—who was a former NYPD officer—to intimidate individuals.
He was also accused of threatening a woman by saying he would send the Chinese Mafia to kill her brother and allegedly making threats of sexual violence against a female lawyer who was involved in a case against him.
“Defrauding the Chinese Communist Party”
Another focal point of the prosecution's case was Luthmann’s fraudulent business activities with Cardinale. Prosecutors alleged that he masterminded a fraudulent scrap metal scheme, filling containers with cheap filler instead of valuable metal and using his law office as a front.
He was accused of setting up shell companies, recruiting a blind man on public assistance as the fake president of one of these companies, laundering money through offshore accounts and his attorney trust account, and defrauding a slew of companies owned and controlled by the Chinese Government.
The Government claimed that even after being confronted by “Chinese organized crime members” who had been defrauded, Luthmann allegedly turned to his mafia connections to resolve the situation.
“It sounds like bullshit to me. The Tong and the Chinese Government are two separate corrupt entities. But only one threatens national security,” said a local New York City source with law enforcement connections. “If what they say about him is true and he really screwed the Chinese that bad, they should give Luthmann the Presidential Medal of Honor, a Letter of Marque, and a small army.”
Crooked New York Prosecutors and Government Rats?
Perhaps the most brazen accusations centered on Luthmann’s alleged attempts to frame and destroy political enemies.
According to the Government, he offered $10,000 to an exotic dancer to falsely claim that Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon had raped her.
“They make it sound like I’m the first guy in human history to fail to get laid in a whore house with a stack full of hundreds. What stripper doesn’t take the money? Their story is bullshit,” Luthmann said.
Journalist Michael Volpe agreed.
Luthmann also allegedly attempted to bribe individuals into making false accusations against Judge Judith McMahon, the DA’s wife, claiming she accepted bribes.
Luthmann says he had and has the goods on the McMahons shuttling warrants away from “defense-oriented judges” to pad prosecutorial stats and violate hundreds of criminal defendants’ constitutional rights.
His legal tactics were described as abusing the court system. He filed lawsuits to discredit political opponents and critics, including one-time friends and clients Sabrina and Charlie Balducci from MTV’s True Life.
One particularly chilling Government accusation involved Luthmann hiring a Russian-accented man to bang on the door of a political rival at 2:00 a.m., terrifying his wife and children into hiding in their attic.
“It was Charlie Balducci. The ‘Russian’ was a process server. And he was knocking at the door at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon,” Luthmann said. “And Balducci was scared? No f—ing way. It was legal papers. He’s the guy who wanted to take a limo driver on his wedding day and ‘gut him like a fish.’ “
When Balducci died in July 2020, Luthmann said he knew Balducci was a “pill head,” and he believes he died from a “drug overdose.” Luthmann was confirmed correct in January 2021, when the NYC Medical Examiner succumbed to “acute intoxication” from a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs.
According to Luthmann, FBI sources and informants, including Balducci, Robert Castro, Henry “Bobby Digi” Olisa, Amanda Farinacci, and Manuel Ortega, “spun yarns at the McMahon’s direction.”
“Politically-Motivated Physical Attacks”
Nonetheless, the Government claimed that Luthmann planned physical attacks on political figures, including hiring someone to beat up John Gulino, former chairman of the Democratic Committee of Richmond County, and attempting to hire an associate to murder political operative Kevin Elkins.
His alleged misconduct didn’t stop there. He was accused of intimidating individuals into dropping lawsuits, orchestrating online harassment campaigns against journalists, framing a former employee for stealing an autographed Tom Seaver photo, and allegedly arranging for a rival to be arrested on false petty larceny charges. Prosecutors even claimed he engaged in aggravated DWI, crashing his car and fleeing the scene.
Finally, witness tampering rounded out the accusations, with multiple individuals reportedly expressing fear of retaliation for speaking out against him.
The Mob, the Feds, and the Content Grift
The question remains—was Luthmann truly the dangerous criminal mastermind the Government claimed, or was he the victim of a politically motivated lawfare operation designed to silence him?
Whether these allegations reflect a pattern of actual criminal activity or an exaggerated effort to destroy his credibility, one thing is clear: his ability to operate in the political and media landscape has made him a persistent and controversial figure.
The problem with running a monetized outrage machine is that it thrives on escalation. With his WhatTheHale$ YouTube empire, Hales has built a career of manufacturing conflict and drama. Lewis has done the same, inserting himself into online feuds for clout and cash. But there's a limit to how far he can push this model before it backfires.
By recklessly dragging names into the spotlight—names that the FBI has been watching for decades—they have risked making themselves targets of scrutiny from law enforcement and those who operate outside the law.
“Mobsters aren’t known for issuing DMCA takedown notices. They don’t send cease-and-desist letters. They respond in ways that don’t play out in the YouTube algorithm.” Luthmann said.
Luthmann believes that Hales and Lewis may have just set themselves up for a major reality check.
“They don’t realize what they’ve done," he said. "They play internet tough guy, but they’ve never been in the kind of shitstorm they’re heading toward. They’re going to learn real quick that some people don’t play.”
The ultimate irony? In their attempt to destroy Luthmann’s credibility, they may have done something far worse—made themselves liabilities in a much larger, much more dangerous game.
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