"You set a crook to catch a crook. We put the big honey pot out there and all the flies came to us." ——Mel Weinberg, 60 Minutes, April 12, 1981
“你設(shè)陷阱要套出壞蛋。我們把裝滿蜂蜜的大罐子放在外頭，然后一群蒼蠅就朝我們飛過來了?！薄窢枴夭瘢?0分鐘》，1981年4月12日

1. How long had Mel Weinberg been living a life of crime prior to his capture?
1. 梅爾·溫伯格被逮捕之前有多長的犯罪生涯？

As indicated in the American Hustle movie, prior to his capture by the FBI, Mel had been living a life of delinquency ever since he was a boy growing up in the Bronx. It was then that he stole gold stars from his teacher's desk in order to show his mother what an excellent student he was. When his father's window-glass business was on the rocks, a helpful Mel drove around town in a Cadillac, shooting out windows with his slingshot. His father's business surged. His delinquency as a juvenile eventually evolved into large scale swindles as an adult. -Washington Post
正如電影《美國騙局》里描述的那樣，被FBI逮捕之前，梅爾在布朗克斯長大，從小就開始了違法犯罪的生活。那時(shí)候他偷了老師桌上的金制的星星，只為讓媽媽知道他是一個(gè)好學(xué)生。當(dāng)他爸爸的窗玻璃生意不景氣時(shí)，一心想幫助爸爸的梅爾開了一輛凱迪拉克在鎮(zhèn)上轉(zhuǎn)悠，用彈弓打破了別人家的窗戶。于是爸爸的生意紅火起來。梅爾青少年時(shí)期的不良行為最終升級(jí)到成年時(shí)期的詐騙犯罪。——《華盛頓郵報(bào)》

2. Why did confessed con man Mel Weinberg agree to help the FBI??
2. 為什么承認(rèn)犯罪事實(shí)的詐騙犯梅爾·溫伯格同意幫助FBI?

The real Irving Rosenfeld, Mel Weinberg, had been running get-rich-quick schemes that mainly included insurance fraud and various other investment scams. His swindling days ended when the FBI nabbed him for operating a bogus international banking and investment firm, London Investors, out of a furnished leased office in Melville, Long Island.
歐文·羅森菲爾德的原型，梅爾·溫伯格，當(dāng)時(shí)正在搗鼓保險(xiǎn)詐騙和其他的投資騙局為主的、所謂“一夜致富”的犯罪計(jì)劃。他在長島的梅爾維爾租了一間辦公室，掛名“倫敦投資公司”，其實(shí)就是一個(gè)空殼的國際銀行和投資公司，后來FBI查出他的犯罪行徑，溫伯格的詐騙生涯也就告一段落。

Weinberg's luck ran out in 1977 when a real estate man from Pittsburgh reported him to the FBI. Arrested along with his mistress Evelyn Knight and conspirator Patrick Francis, he was indicted by a federal grand jury for mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. Unlike what is seen in the movie, the real FBI agent behind Bradley Cooper's character Richie DiMaso, whose actual name is Anthony Amoroso, was not on hand for Mel and Evelyn's arrest. Agent Amoroso didn't meet con man Mel Weinberg until after Weinberg agreed to a deal to help the FBI.
1977年溫伯格的好運(yùn)終于走到盡頭。匹茲堡的一名房地產(chǎn)商人向FBI舉報(bào)了他。他和情婦伊芙琳·奈特、共犯帕特里克·弗朗西斯同時(shí)被逮捕，溫伯格被聯(lián)邦高級(jí)陪審團(tuán)以郵件詐騙、匯款詐騙和陰謀騙局的罪名起訴。與電影有所不同的是，布萊德利·庫珀扮演的里奇·迪瑪索的原型——FBI特工安東尼·阿莫羅索，他并沒有接手梅爾和伊芙琳的逮捕行動(dòng)。直到溫伯格同意幫助FBI時(shí)，阿莫羅索特工才第一次見到溫伯格。——

Knowing that prison was Weinberg's only option, FBI agent John Good, who was in charge of the Abscam operation, made a deal with Weinberg in hopes that he could lead the FBI to more white collar prey. Like what is shown in the movie, Weinberg agreed to work on four cases in order to keep himself and his mistress out of jail. Once those cases were completed, Weinberg agreed to continue to work for the FBI, leading them to uncover the political corruption that the Abscam operation became known for. -60 Minutes
負(fù)責(zé)阿伯斯坎行動(dòng)（Abscam）的FBI特工約翰·古德明白，鋃鐺入獄是溫伯格唯一的選擇，于是他與溫伯格做了一場交易，希望溫伯格能夠幫助FBI查出更多的“獵物”。與電影中所呈現(xiàn)的一樣，溫伯格同意參與四件案子，使自己和情婦免受牢獄之災(zāi)。一旦完成這些案子，溫伯格同意繼續(xù)為FBI效勞，在他的協(xié)助下就有了以揭露政治腐敗而著名的阿伯斯坎行動(dòng)?！?0分鐘》