DANNY BLANCHARD wants you to know he's not that bad a person.
In an exclusive interview with the Free Press just prior to his sentencing Wednesday, Gerald Blanchard -- known as Danny -- said he has come clean about his high-tech, globe-trotting crimes to begin to make up for all the pain he's caused his family and friends.
He said since his arrest last January his contact with his family has been minimal, as they were taken completely by surprise by the double life he was leading; one day a good grandson, the next day an international fraud artist stealing cash from ATMs in Egypt to finance Kurdish rebels in Iraq.
Blanchard strikes you as Canada's version of Frank Abagnale, the legendary American con man portrayed by actor Leonardo Dicaprio in Hollywood's Catch Me If You Can.
He's talkative, smart and confident. He also freely admits his crimes, but stresses at no time was anyone in his family aware of what he was doing.
He said more than anything, he is ashamed he dragged his Winnipeg grandmother into the police investigation against him.
It was in her west Winnipeg basement that he stashed the Koechert Pearl Diamond, a historic jewel-encrusted brooch that once belonged to Empress Elisabeth of Austria during the 19th century.
It was stolen from a castle in Vienna during a daylight robbery in 1998 -- someone swiped it and replaced it with a fake bought from a local gift shop -- and ended up hidden in a piece of Styrofoam insulation in the basement of his grandmother's home.
Blanchard led police to it last May on an escorted absence from jail. No one has been charged with stealing the piece, one of only two in the world.
Blanchard said he couldn't explain why he took advantage of someone in his family, and that he'll live with that the rest of his life.
He said it's that act alone that prompted him to call the Free Press, so those who know him understand he's sorry.
"I've had interview requests from CNN and all other kinds of international and Canadian media and I've turned them all down," the self-taught electronics and security expert said.
Blanchard said he wants to make amends.
He has already discussed with Canadian bank security officials how he was able to defeat their ATM security systems and, like Abagnale in the U.S., may get a job after his release testing bank security features to protect them against people like him.
"They (banks) should hire him and pay him a million dollars a year," said Associate Chief Justice Jeffrey Oliphant after hearing the facts of the case.
"That has been discussed," replied Crown attorney Sheila Leinburd.
Winnipeg police have actually created a three-hour multimedia presentation based entirely on Blanchard that they show to local security officials.
"He's a very charming individual, not of the same ilk as a lot of other criminals we see," said police Insp. Tom Legge.
Court was told Wednesday Blanchard was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, but as an adult has overcome that to develop an almost "encyclopedic" knowledge of electronics and surveillance.
He was born in Winnipeg but immediately given up for adoption by his parents. He moved to the United States at the age of seven with his adoptive mother.
"His mother says that as a toddler, he could take anything apart," said defence lawyer Danny Gunn.
He called his client a soft-spoken, highly intelligent and extremely polite man who has many layers -- including a penchant for donating toys and other gifts to charities for children.
"I'm not saying he's Robin Hood. But there's more to this complex and complicated individual," said Gunn.
Blanchard talked briefly with the Free Press about his growing up in Omaha, Neb., where he earned infamy in 1993 for escaping police custody twice in less than 24 hours.
It was those crimes that earned him his first prison sentence and a deportation order from the U.S. after his release in 1997.
As part of his plea bargain, Blanchard is hoping to be transferred to a minimum-security prison in British Columbia where he can be close to his girlfriend Lynette Tien, who is currently before the courts as a co-accused.
Blanchard was actually charged earlier this year with plotting to kill Tien -- but the Crown dropped it Wednesday based on a lack of evidence.
Blanchard told the Free Press that so-called plot was cooked up by two inmates with whom he was in custody so they could get favourable treatment from the Crown on their own charges.
"The police quickly realized it wasn't true," he said.
Blanchard said he and Tien plan to marry while he is still in custody.
By pleading guilty to participating in an organized crime ring, Blanchard will not qualify for accelerated parole at the one-sixth mark of his sentence.
"He's looking forward to serving his time, putting this behind him and moving forward with his life," Gunn said Wednesday.
"I think you have a great future ahead of you if you wish to pursue an honest style of life," said Oliphant.
"Although I'm not prepared to sign a letter of reference."
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca
www.mikeoncrime.com
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