I Was a Chicago Vice Lord — Then I Got 25 Years in Prison | Greg McNeal

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 743 Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg McNeal grew up in Chicago in a good family, but when his parents fell into addiction, he turned to the streets at a young age. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Greg shares how he used his business mindset to build a drug empire while also opening legitimate businesses, always believing he had an exit plan. That all came crashing down when the feds caught him up in a case tied to someone else, leading to a trial and a 25-year federal prison sentence. Greg breaks down what it was like facing that kind of time, serving four years behind bars, and then doing the unthinkable — winning his appeal on a technicality. He explains how his sentence was reduced to a year and a day, finishing his time in a federal camp, and what it took to completely rebuild his life after prison. _____________________________________________ #TrueCrime #Chicago #DrugEmpire #DrugTrafficking #PrisonStory #FederalCase #CrimeStories #exinmate _____________________________________________ Connect with Greg McNeal: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqDp4Pasgv7/?igsh=ZHh6bjRwdndtb2Z2 Merch: https://realionairelifestylecollection.com/ Website: https://mindsetshifters.org/ _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 From Street Hustle to Federal Prison 03:48 Growing Up in Chicago 07:49 Getting Pulled Into Street Life 12:03 Building a Drug Empire 18:15 Gang Life & Street Politics 23:15 Living a Double Life (Legal vs Illegal) 27:51 How the Federal Case Started 32:33 Arrest, Trial & Sentencing 39:10 Life Inside Federal Prison 45:01 Mindset Shift & Finding Purpose 48:38 Overturning a Federal Conviction 51:10 Coming Home & Starting Over 01:00:10 Entrepreneurship After Prison 01:06:08 Advice for Ex-Cons & Reentry 01:10:48 Family, Reflection & Growth 01:15:02 Books, Business & Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	All you want to do back then is get you a nice outfit, get some shoes, some Jordans. You're a post up on the corner. Where do you think you got that hustler ambition from? Like I've always had the mindset of being my own boss. So he gave me what he gave me and I had no idea how I was going to move it. And so I took it, not knowing how I was going to get rid of it. It's Greg McNeil, aka Money, by way of Chicago.
0:22.6	I was sentenced to 25 years on a federal drug conspiracy.
0:25.6	Greg McNeil built a drug empire in Chicago while running legitimate businesses until the feds caught him up in a case he didn't even see coming.
0:34.6	After being sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, he served four before pulling
0:39.2	off the unthinkable and beating the case on a technicality. Here's how it all happened.
0:48.5	I grew up in Chicago, west side of Chicago, you know, those are like the main areas. You got
0:53.9	South Side and West Side
0:55.9	are two of the more popular, well-known areas, but it's North and East, too, but I grew up on
1:00.7	the West Side of Chicago by where the Henry Horner projects originally, and then migrated
1:06.0	to Pulaski Road and other areas of the West Side. What was your upbringing like?
1:11.0	Started out great.
1:12.8	Two-parent household, both mother and father working.
1:19.0	I excelled in sports, basketball mainly.
1:22.6	My siblings were great.
1:24.3	We all had great relationships.
1:26.8	And, you know, certain things happened
1:30.1	that shifted that dynamic, which was the whole parents aspect of it where as to they
1:38.3	feel victim to certain evils that were going on during those times with, you know, drugs and
1:43.3	things like that. And it kind of derailed my
1:46.5	initial plans. What did your parents do for work? My father, he worked at a company called Good Chef.
1:54.1	It was crazy. It was an Asian company. They made fortune cookies, soy sauce, sweet and he was like
2:00.0	the man for them. Like it was an all Asian company
	...

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