Stolen Dreams

A Wall Street Trader Lives A Secret Life As A Serial Bank Robber

(CBS)  This story originally aired on March 15, 2008.

Stephen Trantel was a Wall Street insider who seemed to have it all: a beautiful family, a nice home in an upscale Long Island community, and fancy cars. But what those closest to him didn't know was that he was living a secret life.

And as correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports, that secret life began to unravel on one November day in 2003 after what was supposed to be just a day of fishing.

---

It was dark and stormy in more ways than one on that November night. There had been no news about Stephen's whereabouts for hours, when police called his wife, Jeanne Callahan.

Jeanne's friends Brooke and Laura had been with her since earlier in the evening, hours after Stephen was due home. "We were going through a thousand different scenarios. If he was in a hospital, why had nobody called, if he was mugged, somebody stole his wallet, he was in an accident his body was in a ditch someplace," Laura remembers.

The news wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good, either: Stephen was alive but was under arrest, charged with crimes that could put him away for the rest of his life. Police told Jeanne her husband was a bank robber, and that he didn’t commit just one or two robberies - he committed ten.

Jeanne told police they had the wrong man.

To the people who knew Stephen, he was the least likely to rob a bank - for one, he was the son of a New York City cop. And because he was a trader in the big money world of commodities, he wouldn't have to steal anything.

The Trantels lived in a tony little town in the suburbs of Manhattan called Rockville Center. And Jeanne was living a nice life. Every month, Stephen handed her a wad of cash. He had always been generous, ever since they met when she was just 24.

After they married and he established himself as a trader, they drove nice cars, took nice vacations and Jeanne could stay home to raise their two sons, Stephen Jr. and his baby brother Ryan.

And when Stephen got home from his job, he got right down to work, helping with the upbringing of his sons. It was impossible to imagine this man robbing banks.

Yet there he was in police custody.

"He got on the phone and he was really scared. And I just kept saying 'Steve, what’s going on? What’s going on? What’s going on?' And he said, 'It’s okay, I’m innocent,'" Jeanne remembers.

Police had been confronting him with surveillance pictures from bank security cameras.

For Stephen, this day that ended in handcuffs began out on the water for a fishing trip. The only problem with the day so far was the tail light on Stephen's car: it was out.

But on his way home, police suddenly swooped in and surrounded his car. And he was a little bit of a wise guy. "I got to the stop sign and five cops surrounded me. They handcuffed me and put me in the car," he recalls. "And I'm like, 'Guys, all this for a tail light? Come on.'"

By the end of the night, Stephen was charged with bank robbery.

Stephen’s lifelong friends, Laura, Bobby, Sarah, and Tommy knew this was a case of mistaken identity. Stephen was a little league coach, and played Santa Claus at their annual Christmas party. He also volunteered at soup kitchens and Habitat for Humanity.

In fact, his friends even doubted that Stephen had the guts to rob a bank. "He was like a nervous Nellie. Like I couldn't picture the calm it would take to walk into the bank," Laura says.

While Jeanne spent a sleepless night reeling from her husband's arrest, Detective James Skopek was methodically going through the evidence to make sure he had the right man.

It had been a maddening case. After the first few robberies, Skopek had a bunch of clothes that the robber had tossed away and a group of terrified tellers, but not much more.

Surveillance tapes showed a white man in his 30s. Aware of all the cameras, the robber pulled the brim of his baseball hat low to cover his eyes.

"You could see on some of the videotapes, he walked in, made sure that he was okay in there, make sure there was a minimal amount of customers, so we didn't have a lot of witnesses to help our case," Skopek says.

[rmstaff]

The Fairy tale ending would be the Princess stood by her man through thick and thin till death do they part!
Obviously she was not a Princess! The vows she took were meaningless! She was a kept woman! He certainly was not right but he garners more sympathy than this broad as she wilted when the going got tough! Thankfully, her parents along with his were there to pick up the pieces and lead this inept broad through the hard times!
Write a book? Stick to giving massages and prostituting yourself in the real estate industy!
As to Stephen, he is paying his debt to our so called society. At least he gets to see his children. He will be free in a couple of years and hopefully he will be able to decipher the wrongs and when released meet someone who will be a little more compassionate and stand by him regardless!
Bet she has already found a new "Sugar Daddy"!
Good luck Stephen!

[v22forever]

I don't understand the underlying mystery here? Viz, "why did he do it?" It is so obvious that Ray Charles could see it. I believe this guy knew to the bottom of his soul that if the tough times hit, his wife would desert him. In the end, when the money ran out, so did she.
On the one hand, I see him as a sympathetic schmuck and on the other, I see him as a dumb ass who was willing to prostitute himself for his choice of a wife.

[csi-lover]

You do the crime, you do the time. Now when are banks going to get armed security guards in every bank? What's more expensive, paying someone to protect the bank, or getting ripped off?

Da.

[raymarfam]

To those of you who are bashing the wife - have you not heard/read about the "Clark Rockefeller" story? He was married to a very intelligent woman who made millions of dollars a year - and she didn't know about his lies until more than a decade after they'd married. Seems to me that if someone like his wife didn't know - it's not such a stretch to believe that the wife in this story didn't have a clue about what was going on. A lot of women - myself not one of them thank God - are not at all familiar with the financial status of their families. As far as she knew he was working & making a good living for their family. This unfortunately was not the truth. So she divorced him afterwards - do you blame her? I would do the same. I'm quite sure that if he'd sat down and spoken with her about their money problems, she would have tried to help - instead he chose to rob banks to avoid facing his wife, his friends and his family.

[kfreeman1967]

Perhaps he should have been more upfront with her. If they couldn't afford the lifestyle she longed for, and he longed to provide, then why didn't he just TELL HER? I am a stay at home mom (granted, I do not send my child to private school, and I drive an 11 yr old vehicle, so my situation is somewhat different), so my husband brings the money home, but I sit and pay the bills. We both know exactly where we stand and what we're spending. If you want to be a grown-up and be married and live in a grown-up world, then anything other than a complete open dialogue about the household budget is moronic. In my world, it would be unthinkable to just wander around spending money without ever questioning the bank balance, or the realism of a purchase, etc., but perhaps in her world, in her circle of friends, maybe they lived that way. This isn't 1956, ladies, you should WANT to know, and if you don't know, you should ask. Otherwise, you aren't fairly sharing the burden.

[sunlover518]

I doubt she was ignorant. probably got red flags but didnt want to give up her lifestyle. now she claims ignorance. dont get married again girl you are a bad judge of character

[mbsheisey]

Please don't judge this woman until you've walked in her shoes. When your spouse wants to keep a secret, they can be successful. I discovered my husband was in serious money trouble after he committed suicide. I knew something was a little off, but he was so good at covering it up, like this man, that I would reluctantly put it out of my mind for awhile, hoping that maybe he woul tell me when he was ready. This went on for years. I would beg and beg him to let us do the bills together and we would do them together for, say, one month, and then the next month, he would go right back to doing them by himself and hiding them from me. I would tell him that I knew I was bad with money and that paying the bills together would help me to get a feel of what was coming in and going out of the house, cause I'm bad with numbers. He still would not do it. Occasionally he would let his jolly facade slip and I could tell something was bothering him, and I would ask him to please go talk to someone and not hold everything inside like most men do and die early of a heart attack cause I loved him so much and did not want to lose him. He told me that men did not go talk to therapists. Well, after 25 years of marriage, he lost his job, but he told me he was laid off. A few months later he committed suicide and after I could see ALL of the mail, I discovered that he had several credit cards that I didn't know about and was about $100,000.00 in debt. I also discovered that the reason he lost his job was because he used his boss's credit card improperly. Several people that he spent his time with during the day also told me that he seemed to be caught up in gambling online. However, when I talked to the police when they investigated his suicide, they said that they could not find anybody who had anything bad to say about him. My husband was also an extremely well-liked person who found himself in an impossible situation, like this man. He tried to be the perfect husband to me, even though I did not ask him to be. I love jewelry and cannot walk by a jewelry store window, but I discovered that when I would stop to look, he would feel like he had to buy me something! I just wanted to look!
Now I have lost my hubband, my best friend, my house, my job, and have gone to live with my mother. Not where I thought I would be at 52 years old.

[drthvader]

Good thing you have a mother, concentrate on that.

[mwalker63]

I for one wish CBS & 48HRS would stop with all this darn Michael Jackson videos and lets get back to work with the real crime videos I am so accustomed to watching. I watch this daily for the last couple of years and now I find myself on you tube looking for old videos cause 48hrs have not come up with anything new until now and the video for stolen dreams I still can't watch. C'MON CBS, I REALLY LIKE WATCHING THE GOOD WORK YOU PUT INTO YOUR STORIES BUT WE NEED SOME NEW MATERIAL. EVEN YOUR PAST VIDEOS YOU HAVE LOCKED UP AND ONLY HAVE PREVIEWS AVAILABLE. ANY LONGER AND YOUR GOING TO LOSE A FAN.

[John_Merritt]

I can only imagine what it took for either one to finally admit they were only pawns in a vicious cycle of life. I guess that is what happens when a persons world comes unraveled before everyone's eyes. There is no hiding from the truth. The sad part is that the 'dream' they sought to attain was only a mirage.

We have placed such importance on 'things' within life we think will make us better parents and friends to everyone we meet. When in reality the true treasure always lies within the hearts of men and women everywhere. To covet something you do not possess, but desire, opens each of us up to tantalizing and devastating possibilities. But that is what we do when we start 'chasing the bag' of dreams that sometimes were not meant for everybody.

Chasing a dream is what we as humans do because it is dangled before our eyes daily, like the carrot to the horse. We are drawn in because we see our neighbors, friends and everyone else with something we would like to have, and are unable to attain without some type of intervention or modification of our lifestyle.

The true victims were and always will be the children. They are essentially held hostage to the unrealistic expectations of their parents and they have no recourse except to go along for the ride.

As Steven sits in his jail cell (9 yrs. got off easy) he now knows the errors of his ways because he had it all, and he did not realize it. I am sure being a commodities trader is stressful but a person has to be really bad when you can't make money off the oil market.

I can only hope and pray that his wife and children can survive without their father. I also hope their friends they had before, are still their friends today and can support them through this difficult time.

Moral of the story: Be thankful for everything you have. If you have a TRUE belief in God and a great woman with wonderful children and parents and friends who love you; what more do you need in this life? Because everything we do here, is only the prep course for what awaits us in the future. If we blow opportunities when they arise, there are no assurances we will ever get to revisit that blessing again.

[voxpopulus]

I hope she was at least good in bed.

[mariholly]

voxpopulus: That was a weird comment. How shallow! When my father lost his job, we ate Swanson Chix/beef pies and had "Stay-Vacations" ! We were happy. Enough said!

[bradkt1]

A few years ago, there was a somewhat similar story about a FAA air traffic controller who turned out to be a bank robber.

[naj1953]

He was dumb to think he could get away with it. Robbing banks so you can live above your means. Sounds to me if mommy and daddy could pay off her house, she was a spoiled brat anyway.I bet He knew he would lose her if he didn't provide in the way she was used to. Sounds like they deserve each other. Talk about greed. Dumb A$$ should have said, Hey I lost my job and we gotta sell everything. I mean her parents paid her house off right? why not go to mommy and daddy then. Example of people living above their means and now they want us to feel sorry for them. Most women know how much money their husbands make and I think she knew and now she wants to make money off a book deal, movie, or go on some talk show to make some extra cash. She is one of those women in my mind, who only goes after men that are her meal ticket. Feel sorry for the next dumb a$$. Don't be fooled that this woman is the sweet person, she wants everyone to think she is. There are Hard working Americans who are out of work, lost everything and don't go robbing banks. This guy robs banks, she helps spend the money and now his wife wants to write a book about it. PLEASE... I know I won't be buying her book.

[YCantWeAllGetAlong]

"He has about three years left in prison to figure it all out."
---OK.....that would be in 2012

"Stephen Trantel is scheduled to be released from prison in 2021. The Trantel children visit their father often"
---OK, WHICH IS IT???
-------
I was LOL at the first comment about how,"Kudos to him for being man enough to do whatever he needed to do to make sure you and your kids continued to live the life you were accustomed to. Sadly, he got caught."
----Are you on DOPE? KUDOS to him for robbing the bank? Robbing a bank makes you a MAN? SADLY, he got caught? WOW, there are some real loons on this site! At least I got my daily dose of laughter though.

He got everything he deserved and now she has to work like a big girl. She can handle it.

[justice4you]

I applaud your comment. Thank you!

[carolcape]

I believe this woman is a selfish woman. Her husband robbed banks to pay the bills, a desperate man. We often hear of men committing suicide or wiping out the family, but he chose to try to pay the bills, mind you it is not the right way to do that, but he was a desperate man. I cannot believe that she didn't feel he was doing something illegal to get the money. She is not a good liar, not a good liar at all. Oh, I was shocked. He was just doling out money to her like it nothing and she didn't say anything, she didn't want to know. Well, I feel sad for the kids, but they will always love their dad. Well the wife indicated how much she loved him and she was crushed, well hello, he did it for you and the kids and you divorced him. Well now she can live in the real world and know what it is like, the party is over and reality has set in. He will make out okay when he gets out of prison. He can start over and make a new life for himself.

[hercule1122]

I usually have no empathy for the crimianl, but I must say that Stepehen said the right things which made me want to hope he can turn his life around. He was believable, but the poor wife was so vacuous. As Gertrude Stein said, " there was no there, there"...she was surely no Mensa member. I hope he can rebound from his crimes-- I think he is basically a good man. I expect that drugs were involved and CBS as usual seems to omit some salient facts. Did he use a gun or not? Obvious questions were never asked in the show. This seems to be the media today--- no real dedication to the truth and its aftermath.

[justice4you]

The bank robber was BELIEVABLE? OMG. You're questioning the OBVIOUS - the fact that this guy is a THIEF? His wife had to KNOW? Wow.

Wow! The tolerance of the acts of this criminal is unbelievable! Change Steven Trantel into a black or someone else who doesn't look like someone who these commenters may know and/or love and we can bet that his acts wouldn't be so kindly understood. This isn't the only 48 Hours episode that has revealed the lunatic double-standard that is our judicial system and the sadly race-based empathy that pervades our society. No wonder America, with all of Her great promise, is so screwed up! I suggest people start to get to know more people who DON'T look like themselves so they can begin to truly understand human nature.

[justice4you]

BINGO - my thoughts exactly.

[madlocker]

Why do I have a feeling that skelsey9266 is one of the 50% of Americans who doesn't actually have to pay any federal income taxes each year? And why is it that so many of those who enjoy the roads, schools, and public services paid for by the taxes of others feel so entitled to make pronouncements about right and wrong and helping themselves to what others have earned? Just one more social parasite.

[skelsey9266]

Excuse me jerk off! but I have two jobs pay my taxes, which is federal state city school property sales soon to be luxary, should I go on. I also have 4 children, 1 with liver disease,who is 18, and I recently in recovering from colon cancer. Do I feel entitled to what pay more taxes! You should'nt judge some one by one post. Point being do I think the guy did some thing Stupid, Yes, but when you think about all the other bull **** taking place in this country, For someone who seemed to be a regular guy, he robbed a bank,so what more power to him

[AvalonBlue]

She's writing a book? Will he get the cash? Probably not - I think it's his story!!!

[justice4you]

They're BOTH writing the book, baby, and they'll both get and enjoy your cash. Ahhhh, the American Dream.

[justice4you]

What BS - who does this guy know at 48 hours? What a crock. I've been unemployed for over a year and I never once thought to rob a bank, threatening bank tellers with their lives! And his wife never suspected anything as he handed her wads of cash? I guarantee you they get back together after the thief gets out and he get his book and movie deal. BS! You make me sick.

[mariholly]

justice4you: Good response. It is possible that after she makes $$ on th book/movie deal, that they get back together, profiting from this is wrong. The kids are the ones that get hurt in all of this. THANKS for your comment.

[skelsey9266]

I don't blame the guy at all . He was caught up in which he was ripped off from wall street, so he robbed a god dame bank, banks , insurance companies, politicans, the goverment in general, rips us off ( the tax payers on a daily basis)! I don't see any of them getting in trouble , it's always the regular guy that takes the hit ! His wife what a piece of ****! he did what he did for her and her kids! he took the altimate sacrifice, risking himself, and she **** on him.

[justice4you]

He didn't do anything for his kids, but leave a legacy of theft - are you kidding me? God this whole story is BS! This is all planned - if he got caught, play the loving husband and father who didn't know WHAT else to do BUT ROB BANKS and THREATEN TELLERS! Wife plays dumb, leaves husband. Get a book and movie deal - get back together later - and VOILA - another book and movie deal! WOO HOO - The American Dream!