Episode 257: Cliff Panezich - Mastermind Behind 'Operation Stolen Base'

Cliff Panezich was like many young athletes. One who had aspirations to play at a high level, and he enjoyed competing. Through High School he wasn't the 'most talented' but he continued to put in the work that was required. He found himself competing through some minor-league baseball systems later in life where he was enjoying himself. 

It was somewhere during this time (as you'll hear in our interview) when Cliff began a side hustle (business) selling autographed memorabilia. It was all good and everything, until he decided to take things up a notch, and began doing things in an illegal way (selling forged autographed memorabilia). The story goes much deeper than this, and I'd encourage you to listen to this today. 

Find out the details of Cliff's life that lead up to the illegal activity. Hear from his perspective, what it took to scale this business to what it became, before things came crashing down in a MAJOR way! Find out the lessons he learned from that experience. 

Cliff found himself with a 6-year prison sentence for what he did, and after doing his time, he's now a free man, making a name for himself. I was able to come across Cliff's story through his TikTok channel which I'd encourage all of you to follow!! He's doing some major things right now and has a lot of things coming down the pipeline to make the most of this life, now that he's spent the last six years behind bars! 

This is such an intriguing story. One that's very eye-opening, and I'd encourage all of you to listen and learn from the experiences he shares. There are some great lessons for young athletes, as well as some amazing lessons to be learned for the entrepreneurs of the world. And hey, if you're into sports memorabilia, you may want to listen up, because there's plenty to learn in this world as well in regards to that. 

Follow Cliff on TikTok: @lifeafterprison

Follow Cliff on Instagram: @cpanezich  

Follow Cliff on YouTube: Cliff Panezich 

You can also head to his website here: cliffpanezich.com 

Check out the story that Sports Illustrated produced on Cliff's forgery business!! - https://www.si.com/longform/true-crime/cliff-panezich-fake-sports-memorabilia/index.html 

And don't forget to leave me a review on Apple Podcasts after you check this interview out! I bet you'll absolutely LOVE this one! 

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