Had been practicing for quite some time, and made off with the heist of a lifetime. Hard work pays off.

Nivelo’s lawyer told him there was no fighting it; Ecuador wouldn’t extradite him back to the U.S., but due to an existing treaty between the two countries, Nivelo would have to serve time for the gold heist. Counting on his clean record in Ecuador, Nivelo figured his time in prison would be short. He got a year, and with good behavior, he was released after nine months.

“Listen, if you commit crime, you gotta pay. So I didn’t complain about that,” he said.