Yeah. Since joining the paper in 2018, he has received awards for features, art and environmental writing in the Florida Press Clubs Excellence in Journalism Competition. Hyden still lives in Alachua County. The Legend of Cocaine Island tells the true tale of a Florida man who attempted to sell illegal Caribbean treasure he found buried on an island. "It was interesting," McEnany told the I-TEAM. Which is no big deal if those ideas stay back here. Its a very Coen Brothers story, too, when you think about it. Were there any scenes that you couldnt wait to film? That thought that and we really felt like we were going out on a limb like, Oh my gosh, man. "One thing I learned in there is that once the governments got you in the crosshairs, youre asking for trouble," said Hyden. "That was the last thing on my mind, right there. He mulled it over for weeks, until curiosity overwhelmed him. Ill tell you that. When asked what he was doing in Puerto Rico, Andy lies under oathbuilding sand castlesand cracks up the jury and judge. Looking back on his arrest and trial, Hyden and Andy point toward a number of deficiencies in Alachua County and Homeland Security's version of events. But first, one final thing: I know this may seem unnecessary at this point, I say, but will you tell me the story? The first time Rodney heard the story, a Friday in July 2004, he could tell by the way the others reacted, the way they oversold their delight at the laugh lines, that this was not the first time theyd heard it. Were not gonna make it, he keeps saying to Andy. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Whats sad, Rodney tells Carlos, is that youre so good to do business with. 29, shows how back in 2012, Rodney Hyden, a small-business owner from Florida, found out about the legend of a stash of cocaine worth $2 Back here is such a pure place for good talk, but also a greenhouse for bad ideas. Theres nothing in their bags to worry about, but Rodney decides right then and there, Im not coming back here. McEnany and other investigators on the case are also in the film, even working side by side with the man they captured. It looks like you took a very theatrical route. That was a gamble that paid brilliant dividends. Hes no Pablo Escobar, but he found a plane and a pilot and madea plan. Everybody knew when it was coming out and everybody was hitting each other up. I dont have any hard feelings toward him and he doesnt have any hard feelings toward me. He has a garden out back, a brown dog named Brown Dog, and a featherless cockatoo, all black skin like a plastic bag. Source: Netflix. But I think, as the judge pointed out in the sentencing, they had some culpability, too. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. And Im going, Wow, sounds like its some good stuff. Julian has never seemed to care that much about the moneyhe just loves spinning the talebut Rodney wants to make sure Julian gets his windfall while theres still time to enjoy it. Yep. While the judge considers the sentencing, Rodney and Mark file a motion arguing for leniency, based on a new recommendation from Attorney General Eric Holders office that nonviolent drug offenders receive reduced sentences. Still from The Legend Of Cocaine Island. TL: Oh really, wow. Had I told anybody, any of my friends, what I was going to do, I can guarantee it never would have happened. He was convicted but was released from jail 60 days later. In late June of 2012, Rodney books a last-minute trip to Puerto Rico. "Everyone involved thought the whole time, 'Somebody is going to make a movie out of this one day,'" McEnany said. "It would've been worth about $1.1 million," McEnany said. Good or bad. Your email address will not be published. Rodney tells Carlos and Grant the whole story, emphasizing the supposed quality of the product. The magazine with local insides,stories and travel information about the Caribbean. That was more than fifteen years ago. WebHe is from American. Youre going to laugh at this, Rodney says. A couple of days later, Carlos calls Rodney to let him know he and Grant got the coke back without incident. The documentary The Legend of Cocaine Islandcame out on March 29th and tells the unbelievable but true story of Rodney Hyden, a small business owner from Florida. TL: Thats actually a pretty great answer. Good movie, Theo. He interrogates Rodney about his drug-running bona fides (lacking) and the referral from El Neg. Hed been walking around the island for nine years now, looking for something to smoke, thinking, Okay, God, wheres my bale? We're talking about 32 kilograms of cocaine. RETIRED FEBRUARY 2017 Menasha, WI. This was Danny Jimenez. Source:IMDb. Salary in 2020. Of that bundle, what actually tested positive for cocaine was merely 2.2 kilosand that wasnt even sellable, it was such shit. Absolutely not. Rodney agreed to act, and I fully pressed him for it, and I think it wasnt at the end of the day, Rodney, are you glad you did it? We drive in deeper. It seems, per The Gainseville Sun and another LinkedIn page, that the company was previously called R. Hyden Construction Inc. I watched that the other night, too. Now, its producers hope the film will be the next big hit on Netflix. But I think youre going to see a lot more of it. I try to do that with everybody I interviewed to at least catch one more of theirs. Thats as simple as I can answer it. Such is the case in Netflixs wildly entertaining,documentarytale of quintessentially American desperation, dreams of wealth, and the power of mythic storytelling:The Legend of Cocaine Island, out now on the streaming giant. Rodney got married to a local girl, had a daughter with her (they each had a kid from previous relationships), built a house for his family in Gainesville, and purchased another one down in Crystal River. Little twists, extra texture, and then this new chapter, the third act, starring Rodney Hyden. My family didnt even have a TV until I was in middle school, and we didnt live in a place where there was movie theaters. This is the second time its come up, so I should probably do this today. TL: Yeah, absolutely. And he had no other drug-dealer connections besides Danny and the undercover cops he met. 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Rawley started working with an agent named Ryan McEnany. The road becomes softer, sandier, and theres a Big Top of overgrowth. But it could be coke, or something else. He steps through the sliding doors and out into the August heat, a pregnant three-dimensional heat. Hyden was sentenced to 60 days in prison, 5years probation and five years of community service for Habitat for Humanity for 20 hours a week. But his neighbor Rodney Hyden, the subject of the playful and enthralling new Netflix documentary, Hyden is only now learning what that moniker, For the uninitiated, "Florida Man" is a meme that originated in a, Hyden's quest certainly reads like something torn from a. This question becomes necessary when people are trying to make a comparison with other celebritys net worth and incomes. That ground is solid rock, believe me. Youll have to watch the film to find out trust me, you wont regret it. Before they go, Julian gives Rodney his old coordinates; Rodney keys them into Google and generates a printout. Hes 68 years old, Rodney says. Ill never hear from those guys again. But believe it or not, we talk quite often. "For those people who believe we never actually went to Culebra and never dug up the cocaine, they're 100 percent wrong," an anonymous Homeland Security official says in Cocaine Island. According to Yelp, R. Hyden Construction Inc. is no longer operating. That is, until Rodney Hyden heard it, and decided he was going to try to find the cocaine and cure his post-Recession financial woes. What do these three have in common? the Swamp. B&H Builders grew to eighty employees. The little he didI say a little, the lot he didhe said that he could do it and then, two hours later, eat, go to bed. Its one of our favorite things to cover for a variety of reasons, but above all because quite often truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Hyden trembles while flying to the island, stands in the middle of a Culebra field on an overcast day, searching for Julian's trailer. And on the first page, standing there nearly a year ago at the side of his trucka face in the window filled with divinely intervened helpfulnessis Danny Jimenez. The residents of Archer, FL had heard Julian Howell's outlandish story so many times they could recite it themselves embellishments and all. "It was mapped out perfectly," McEnany said. Theo Love the mind behind the 2013 documentaryLittle Hope Was Arson, abouta series of 2010 church arsons in East Texas director ofCocaine Island, took a novel approach to telling this story. As Rodney and I make our way back to his truck, Julians mind seizes one last note. Rodneys wife and daughter are heading down to Daytona Beach for the week, and he tells them he and a buddy are going on a fishing trip. The first thing Rodney thinks while being shouted to the ground is, Dont have a hair trigger, buddy. He played college football at Florida State, and was a two-time All-American. Tom Ford. RH: Yeah. Theres definitely that playful suggestion at the end which worked really well withCocaine Islandconsidering the films tone though. Absolutely. Heres the way I look at it, brother, Rodney says. And Rodneys a born movie star, lets be honest. Update information for Rodney Hyden . And I wanted to be there doing it. But if, in the end, were all still looking for a named thing to hang the blame on, we could do worse than this: Blame the four-mile dirt road. TL: Yeah. There are thirty-two kilos in the ground, so thats about a million bucksespecially if they can unload some of it in New York instead of Florida. The digging scene, Ill never forget it cause Theo makes you do it about a hundred times. As a filmmaker, I feel like Im never gonna have a more fun set. You cant systematically republish all of our articles, nor frame the content of our site. The News4Jax I-TEAM sat down with one of the Jacksonville ICE agents who cracked the case, before the documentary hits Netflix on Friday. I did it once and didnt get away with it. Prospects for new work are grim. The documentary community, they might hate us. So we filmed it with cinema lenses and cinema cameras. He wasnt certain it was worth the risk. Its really good. He didnt know the market value of a kilo of cocaine. The 2023 Critics Choice Awards Was Chock-Full of Stone-Cold (and Coldstone), Drake Used His New Video to Reveal Himself As the Proud Owner of Pharrell's Iconic Jewelry, Every Piece of Menswear You Should Own in 2023, White Tide: A Brief History of Cocaine Washing Up on Beaches, Do you have any idea how much blow gets dumped in the ocean every year? Blame the fantastic remoteness of this place. That's when the fairy tale ended for Hyden. Kind of a big question. The first time I heard about Rodney and his treasure hunt, I knew immediately that it would make an incredible movie. Mr. Rodney T. Hyden President When the economy goes, people turn to other things, but he couldve done a lot of different things to supplement his income. He did, yeah, he said there were sixteen pairs, but were talking fifteen years ago, Rodney says. After a couple of hours, they throw the shovel into the bushes and give up. But Im hanging my hat on you. Youre Puerto Rican; you can do things that a gringo cannot do down there.. He takes a step back and just kinda stares at the bag, beholding for this protracted instant what hes pulled off, so fixated on the duffel that he doesnt hear the footsteps approaching, or at least not until he notices the red lasers dancing on his shirt like the mosquitoes that rule Watermelon Pond. This interview originally appeared at The 405. Please consult your doctor before taking any action. Now gimme a second, Rodney says, I cant quite do it that quickly. Less the fat cut taken off the top, it feels about right in weight. Gandalf if Gandalf lived in Florida [Laughs]. He drove right down the center line on this movie. New TV Tonight The Last of Us: Season 1 That '90s Show: Season 1 Night Court: Season 1 Murf the Surf: Jewels, Jesus, and Mayhem in the USA: Season 1 Turns out the home was carted off just a few months ago. In June, Rodney drives from a job in Crystal River to a Mexican restaurant on the south side of Jacksonville. They couldn't find the cocaine. Hyden and Andy insinuate that Homeland Security and the Sheriff's Officewho offered no additional evidence of actually retrieving the cocaine from its buried hiding spot in the documentarymay have faked their Puerto Rico expedition, instead busting Hyden with cocaine procured for the sting. You cant sell our articles for a fee but you may place them alongside ads. Now, their crew was excellent, and the little I know about movie and film-making, I think you should call Theo Mr. Still, he was charged with the intention of distributing the cocaine he expected to find, as reported by The Gainesville Sun. He feels it in his wrists and throat. Hyden was arrested and facing a minimum prison sentence of 10 years. Hyden owns a construction business in central Florida (a state hit harder than most others) which was booming untilthe real estate bubble burstand triggered a huge part of this story. I mean, Hollywood quality., In July 2013, Rawley and McEnany bring Julian Howell, Andy Culpepper, and Danny Jimenez to Jacksonville to testify. Its such a good feeling to build their home for them and then hand them the keys at the end; you both hug each other and start crying. At my age, I should know better. He mentions the moment Carlos told him to go to the car by himself. For more on the possible buried drug cache, it will be necessary to discuss major spoilers from Netflix's The Legend of Cocaine Island. "Ive never met somebody outside of a courtroom that Ive put in jail before, after everything was said and done. View FREE Public Profile & Reputation for Rodney Feltner in Hyden, KY - See Court Records | Photos | Address, Between 15 and 20 years ago, on the shores of the Pirates of the Caribbean-esque island Culebra, Julian stumbled upon a bale of cocaine. The doc, out Mar. He looks like kind of likeGandalf, and hes just larger than life. So much so that the plot caught director Theo Loves eye. RH: [Laughs] Theres only one Let me tell you, man. Julian and his wife kept looking for the sea turtles, but not for much longer. by Wess Haubrich, Citizen Truth December 6, 2019, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. Hit by hard times and facing increasing debt, Hyden decided to go after the stash and attempt to sell it. 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