Stolen Dreams

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

(CBS)  Jeanne would have to learn how to provide for the children. But first, she and Stephen had to tell them about their father. "I had to tell them that I was leaving. And I had to tell them that this person that they thought was this everything type of guy was just a criminal. Like a no good criminal," Stephen remembers.

A few months later the day came when Stephen had to surrender and begin doing his time. "It was horrible. Very emotional and you know it was hard for me because I’m trying to be strong for them," he says,

Jeanne, who had never paid a bill in her married life, was suddenly alone with two kids. "I was very scared. How was I gonna make it on my own and how was I gonna pay the bills?" she says.

Jeanne asked her friend Beth, who coached her through the tough times, to talk to 48 Hours. "The cars were getting towed away, the phone was getting shut off. She was petrified," Beth explains.

Jeanne was also humiliated. "I had a lot of shame," she says. "I didn’t take the kids for school for quite some time."

What did people say?

"Oh come on, she couldn’t have known? She didn’t know? Come on. A lot of doubt. A lot of sarcasm," Beth says.

"How could you have not have known though?" Schlesinger asks Jeanne.

"Who would think so? Any wife, who would think? That is the last thing on my mind that I would think my husband was out robbing banks," she says.

But she was forced to acknowledge that she might have unknowingly played a role in what happened. "If I knew more about how much money was coming in and out and how much it cost to actually run our household, this never would have happened," Jeanne says.

She says she didn't have a clue how much things cost. "Honestly, I didn’t really care," she says. "I did have my head in the sand. I’m admitting it now on camera."

Her parents had to pay the mortgage, her in-laws helped take care of the kids, and Jeanne managed to go back to school. She's working two jobs now as a real estate agent and a massage therapist.

And slowly she was able to face the world again. "She began showing her face and I think it supported her to lead with her story, 'Hi, I'm Jeanne, you might’ve heard about my husband,'" Beth says.

Jeanne's now telling everyone by writing a book. And shortly after Stephen started doing time she made a big decision: she divorced him. "There’s a point in a woman’s life where she has to draw the line. I never asked for it. I deserve to be free," she says.

It's been more than five years since Stephen was arrested and Jeanne's learned to take care of herself and their children. "My older son was in the car and I said, 'You know, I’m so sorry that mama has to work so much. And I’m so sorry that this really happen,' And my oldest son said to me, and I had tears in my eyes when he said it, he said, 'You know mama, if this never happened you would never know what a strong girl you are and what you’ve done with your life,'" she says.

But Stephen is left to wonder why he did what he did with his life. "How could I be so stupid to like throw that all away and you know I mean lose everything. You know? The wife, the house, all of that?" he says.

He has about three years left in prison to figure it all out.

Stephen Trantel is scheduled to be released from prison in 2021. The Trantel children visit their father often.