Latest news with #PIMoms
Metro
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Netflix movie dominates global top 10 with 47 million views in just 3 days
Link is copied Comments Summer blockbuster season is in full swing at the cinema - and it's the same story on Netflix. Because just as we're all flocking to the movies to catch Superman and the Fantastic Four in full flight, so too are people embracing the streaming platform's seasonal offerings in their millions. In fact this week's top three all boast viewing figures which at any other time of year would have secured them the number one spot - but like we said, it's competitive out there at the moment. Read on for this week's global most-watched movie chart... (Picture: Getty Images) Tyler Perry's on a Netflix roll at the moment following the enormous success of his psychological thriller Straw, and now his latest comedy is following suit, which sees the return of mouthy matriarch Madea. This outing sees the comic character heading to the Bahamas, as the daughter of Madea's nephew Brian (also played by Perry) prepares to tie the knot with a rapper. Plenty of slapstick and hi-jinks ensue, along with a healthy dose of heartwarming family drama (Picture: Netflix/Everett/Shutterstock) The first of this week's new entries comes courtesy of the ongoing Trainwreck series, which aims to shine a light on events, celebrations and situations which all went drastically wrong. PI Moms takes a deep dive into the 2010 Lifestime reality show of the same name about soccer moms turned private investigators - which ended badly when the head of their agency became embroiled in scandal (Picture: Netflix) Moving down the chart is this Brazilian comedy‑drama from director Felipe Joffily that's charmed audiences across the world with its messy familial twists and warm humour. It boasts a cast that sparkles with chemistry, though critics were quick to point out that it has more than a few predictable plot points - although the fact it's added another six million viewers to its tally suggests that's not too much of an issue (Picture: Netflix) The second new entry of the week is this psychological drama from Indonesia, which is keeping viewers across the world enthralled. A Normal Woman tells the story of a socialite whose life is disrupted by a mystery illness, which in turn forces her to confront her environment and question her own identity. Expect some complex themes, including madness and isolation, to be explored in this one (Picture: Netflix/Everett/Shutterstock) It might have been described as 'the ultimate grandmother of all bad movies ever made', yet this German sci-fi thriller continues to prove popular. The movie follows couple Tim and Olivia, who find themselves trapped in their apartment block after a mysterious, impenetrable brick wall springs up outside their door. When they discover their neighbours are facing the same fate, they are forced to work together to find an escape route (Picture: Netflix/Sasha Ostrov) Netflix's South Korean psychological thriller set in a claustrophobic apartment building is continuing to keep audiences gripped. The film centres on a man who invests his life savings into an apartment - only to discover there are some unsettling secrets lurking beneath his new home. Film reviewers applauded its tense atmosphere and sharp production design, though some found the specifics of the 'mystery' a little predictable (Picture: Young-Uk Jeon/Netlix) This quiet indie flick, which combines fall foliage with emotional isolation, continues to impress, vaulting up the top 10 this week and nearly doubling its viewing figures in the process. One of those movies that does what it says on the tin, it's the true story of Donn Fendler, a 12-year-old boy left to fight for survival after a storm separates him from his family - and leaves him trapped on a treacherous mountain (Picture: Everett/Shutterstock) Given the arrival of the long-belated sequel to Happy Gilmore, it's no surprise to see the original make an appearance in the charts. And what an appearance it is, with the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy driving all the way into the top three. The funnyman plays the title character, an aspiring hockey player who joins the PGA tour in a bid to make some money and save his grandmother's house. Mayhem ensues, of course (Picture: Universal/ Kobal/Shutterstock) In any other week KPop Demon Hunters' huge viewing figures would have seen it taking the top spot very comfortably. However the animated musical fantasy's time at the top has come to an end this week, despite adding more than 26 million more views to its tally. It follows Huntrix, a world-renowned K-pop girl band who are leading double lives as demon hunters - which comes in handy when they have to face off against a rival boy band, The Saja Boys - who are secretly demons (Picture: NETFLIX) And so to the movie that's seen off all competition over the past few days, scoring a hole in one with an astonishing number of views in just three days. Nearly 30 years on from the original Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler once again picks up his golf clubs and returns to the title role, this time with our hero - now a retired, widowed alcoholic - heading back to the golf course in a bid to finance his daughter's overseas ballet school. Will there be chaos? You betcha (Picture: Netflix/Shutterstock)
Yahoo
27-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘P.I. Moms' Was a Train Wreck for Lifetime. Now It's a ‘Trainwreck' on Netflix
Lifetime, branded as 'Television for Women,' is all about empowering women. (Sometimes to kill their husbands, sure, but not always.) There is perhaps no better example of that mission than with 2010's P.I. Moms. If only the show actually happened. Fifteen years ago, Lifetime ordered a reality TV series about a private investigation agency staffed by soccer moms. In terms of synergy and branding, it was a no-brainer. In execution, it was a complete train wreck. (Hey, maybe that's why it made Netflix's excellent eight-episode series of documentary films, Trainwreck, produced by Raw.) More from The Hollywood Reporter Venice Strikes Back: Alberto Barbera on His Powerhouse 2025 Festival Lineup Jussie Smollett Speaks in Netflix Doc 'The Truth About Jussie Smollett?' 'Are You My First?' Reality Series Brings Together Virgins Searching for Love The Phil Bowman-directed episode chronicles how you go from having a hit show, and possibly a hit franchise, on your hands to having handcuffs on your wrists. That's how it played out for the private-investigator firm's owner and the P.I. Moms show's fourth lead, Chris Butler. P.I. Moms needed a good pilot. But for some reason, the moms' investigations keep falling apart. It wasn't bad luck or bad investigating — it was internal sabotage. The moms' (and Butler's) colleague Carl Marino — a wannabe actor looking for his big break — was so miffed to not be a main character on P.I. Moms (important note: Carl is not a mom) that he blew up the show from within. Marino, also a P.I., sent the moms (and Lifetime's cameras and budget) on witch hunts designed to make the series' stars look inferior to, well, himself. When that wasn't enough to tank the show, Marino dropped a dime on the only one shadier than himself: his employer. Butler, the founder of Private Investigations, Inc. and the man who had the idea that attractive women could make for the most-effective P.I.s, had a side hustle. Butler and a crooked cop were (re-)selling drugs that had been seized into evidence by the police, and the ticked-off Marino tipped off a reporter to the crime. (I'm not sure what it says that none of the P.I. Moms caught on.) P.I. Moms was canceled and the moms, Butler and Marino suddenly found themselves each out of two jobs. Read our Q&A with Bowman below about his now-streaming Netflix film about the whole debacle. *** You got only half of the P.I. Moms to participate in the film. Who was the hardest to convince? Everyone was given the opportunity. [Production company Raw was] super thorough in the development [stage], and Netflix feels the same: 'Let's find out the whole scope of the story. Let's do research, reach out… and see who wants to take part.' I would say that the Moms that I spoke to were incredibly easy to deal with. I love Ami [Wiltz] and Denise [Antoon]. It was fantastic getting to know them. It was easy because they were at a point where they were ready to talk about this — I don't know if that had always been true. It was the right time for them after 12 to 13 years had passed. It probably helps being on Netflix. Not necessarily. I've worked on a lot of different channels, and the process feels similar. It's never about convincing people to do this, because you only want to speak to people who want to tell their stories and who see a value in it — whether that be true crime or something super harrowing that has happened to someone, they have to have a legitimate reason within themselves to want to take part. It's sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't necessarily always want the person who raises their hand and [says], 'put me on TV' — you're looking for the people doing it for right reasons. And that's certainly true of our Moms. The interesting thing about all of this is that they had legitimate reasons for wanting to take part in the reality TV show in the first place: At surface level, empowering other moms and saying, 'Hey, this is a career you could do that you might not know about,' and seeing how far that [message] spread. Then obviously, the personal stories that are touched on that they had told at the time that got blown away. They really put themselves out there, and then it all got crushed. So that was one of the things I felt most passionate about making this film was, like, 'We're giving them that chance back.' How close were you to getting the other Moms, Charmagne Peters and Michelle Allen, and for that matter, Chris (who is out of prison) and Carl? Raw and Netflix encouraged us to have a dialogue with everyone, and everyone was presented an opportunity to take part in this story. But yes, there are a few people who are key to this story who didn't feel that the project was right for them at this time. In 2010, cable TV was still big business — and these sort of reality shows were basic cable's bread and butter. Do you have a sense of how much money was lost here? That's a super-interesting question. I would say, money-wise, no, but if they were able to syndicate this show that [Butler] had been the fourth part of and then they had put it into other cities — Atlanta, Chicago, whatever — that would have been incredibly lucrative. As you hear in the wiretaps when he's convincing Carl [Marino] to stop sabotaging the show, he wanted the show to be a success and knew that he stood something to gain from that. It feels like having ownership in a successful reality-show franchise would be more profitable than street drug-dealing — and definitely safer. One hundred percent. It feels like a Sliding Doors (1998) moment that things— if they had a bit more success with the show and things hadn't gone haywire, that things could have panned out very differently, and this documentary wouldn't exist. But the whole P.I. Moms network of shows might have. was screwed up by the only men in this story — because, of course it was. Chris did the illegal thing, but it was Carl who continuously tried to sink the project. Who is more to blame? Ultimately, that question is best answered by the P.I. moms, Lucas, the people who made the show and the audience watching. I think a lot of this is more to do with how you align with people's motivations, and what people think is a justified action and how much empathy you need to have for other people vs. empathy for your own personal gain. There are many ways of viewing the actions of the show — that's what's interesting about it. *** Trainwreck: P.I. Moms is now streaming on Netflix. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Trainwreck: P.I. Moms': Inside the True Story Involving a Fake Lifetime Reality Show
Disgraced investigator Chris Butler's illegal activities are chronicled in Netflix's 'Trainwreck: P.I. Moms' In 2010, a reality television series following a private investigation firm staffed by soccer moms was in the works — but one local journalist would uncover that there was nothing 'real' about it. The series, called P.I. Moms, was set to debut in early 2011 on Lifetime Networks. The premise was reminiscent of the popular film Charlie's Angels: Former cop Chris Butler ran the San Francisco-based firm and managed a team of moms moonlighting as investigators. Butler and his so-called "P.I. moms' tackled everything from insurance scams to cheating husbands, and gained media attention in the process. But as one local journalist, Peter Crooks, would learn, Butler's enterprise was all a facade. An anonymous source tipped off Crooks that Butler wasn't just faking stings and investigations — he was also involved in criminal activity that included dirty cops, drug deals, prostitution rings and more. The downfall of Butler and his reality television dreams is the subject of Netflix's Trainwreck: P.I. Moms, which begins streaming on July 22. The latest installment of the documentary series — which has also told the stories of the Astroworld tragedy, the real-life Project X and the infamous Carnival Triumph disaster, among others — features first-hand accounts from the television producers, journalists and former P.I. moms who were duped by Butler. In a bizarre story that seems stranger-than-fiction, here's everything to know about Chris Butler, the P.I. moms and the journalist-informant duo who helped take down a major crime ring. Who is Chris Butler? Butler was born in upstate New York and moved to California with his family in 1973, Diablo magazine reported. He worked as a police officer in the city of Antioch for 11 years before acquiring his own private investigation firm, which he named Butler and Associates Private Investigations, Inc., in 2000, CBS News stated. Butler left the police force because 'law enforcement administration often had trouble understanding [Butler's] tactics and drive, as they were well above the standards of routine performance,' according to his now-defunct website, per Diablo. 'Christopher brings the same tactics, drive, and creativity into the private sector,' it read. Butler first staffed his private investigation firm with off-duty cops and former law enforcement officers, who were all men — but he found them 'competitive, impatient and difficult to deal with,' he told Diablo. So, instead, he tapped into a different demographic: Moms. 'I hired a mom, and she was the best investigator I had worked with,' Butler told the magazine. 'She was patient and a good team player, and she could multitask.' Who is Carl Marino? Carl Marino first met Butler around 2008, when he answered a Craigslist ad looking for someone with both law enforcement and acting experience, according to This American Life. Marino had spent 17 years as a sheriff's deputy in upstate New York, CBS News reported, before relocating to San Francisco to pursue modeling and acting, per Diablo. The Butler and Associates role appeared to combine the two. Butler hired Marino and made him the director of operations at Butler and Associates. Marino described their work at the PI firm as 'always on the fringe' to CBS News. Who were the P.I. moms? After Butler hired a team of moms as private investigators, the firm began to attract nationwide media attention. In 2010, Butler and the P.I. moms appeared on The Dr. Phil Show and the Today show and were also featured in magazines. During these segments, he shed more light on why he believed moms made superior investigators. 'They come into this field prepped for the type of work that they're gonna be encountering. ... They're very good listeners,' Butler said on The Dr. Phil Show (via CBS News). 'They're probably more sensitive to people lying to them.' But it wasn't just their keen listening skills and sensitivity that made these moms useful to Butler's operation: He also deployed the moms as 'decoys' in operations, he explained on Dr. Phil. In one such sting, he used one of his P.I. moms to tempt and seduce a husband suspected of cheating at a hotel bar — a tactic even Dr. Phil questioned. Despite Butler's unconventional methods, his team's media coverage caught the attention of reality television producers. Butler opted to work with Ben Silverman, the producer behind the U.S. versions of The Biggest Loser and The Office and their concept, P.I. Moms, was pitched to multiple networks. Butler told Diablo magazine that Lifetime Television 'bought it on the spot.' The show, which focused on Butler and five female team members, began production and filming in late 2010. It was slated for a March 2011 debut on Lifetime. Who is Peter Crooks? Peter Crooks is a journalist who, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was a writer and senior editor at Diablo magazine, a Bay Area lifestyle magazine. In August 2010, Crooks received a pitch from a Los Angeles-based publicist to write a story on Butler and his P.I. moms, in light of their recent publicity and upcoming reality show. 'It seemed like a no-brainer that we would, that we would cover that story,' Crooks told CBS News. As part of Crooks' research for the article, he rode along with Butler and the P.I. moms to witness a potential sting in action. Butler informed Crooks that his firm had been hired by a wealthy woman who suspected her younger fiancé of cheating, and they were headed out to potentially catch him in the act. Crooks tagged along in the back of a minivan with two P.I. moms as they tailed the subject one day in September 2010. During their 10 hours of surveillance, the trio witnessed the man pick up a female date, take her shopping and out to lunch in Napa Valley, and check into a local hotel. Throughout their day-long tryst, the couple also frequently kissed in public. The P.I. moms captured the indiscretions on video camera and informed the client that her suspicions were confirmed. What happened with Peter Crooks' article about the P.I. moms? Crooks' article about Butler and the P.I. Moms was slated to run in March 2011, timed in conjunction with the release of the Lifetime reality show. But in January, Crooks received a troubling email from an individual named 'R. Rutherford' who alleged that the entire ride-along Crooks had taken part in was staged. 'Chris totally played you,' the email read, according to Diablo magazine. 'The case that you sat in on was totally scripted. All of the participants were employees or paid actors.' Crooks contacted Butler and revealed the accusations, which the private investigator vehemently denied. However, when asked for proof of the case's legitimacy, Butler became evasive — dodging Crooks' repeated requests to speak with the client and see photo evidence of her relationship with the subject. Butler eventually claimed that the email had originated from a disgruntled former intern who had had an affair with one of the P.I. moms that ended badly. However, when Crooks attempted to arrange an in-person meeting with a fact-checker to discuss the details of the article, Butler claimed he was too busy with his cases and filming to meet. What else was Chris Butler accused of? R. Rutherford's accusations didn't stop with the supposedly faked ride-along: 10 days after the initial email, Crooks received a second message from Rutherford alleging that Butler was involved in 'some serious criminal activity' that included police corruption and drug dealing. Rutherford went on to accuse the commander of the Contra Costa County Narcotics Task Force, Norm Wielsch, of taking drugs and explosives seized from raids and giving them to Butler to sell. Rutherford alleged that Butler was selling large amounts of marijuana, prescription painkillers and steroids, as well as C-4 plastic explosive. The source also appealed to Crooks for help, asking for a trusted person in law enforcement to inform them of this alleged operation. What happened to Chris Butler? Thanks to the information Rutherford passed along to Crooks, in February 2011, undercover officers captured Wielsch stealing three pounds of crystal methamphetamine out of the Contra Costa Sheriff's drug locker and then meeting up with Butler to sell one pound of it to a confidential informant. The transaction was captured on video, and the pair were arrested and hit with 28 felony drug and weapons charges each, Diablo reported. The investigation into Butler and Wielsch revealed that their crimes extended beyond the drug operation: The two also allegedly ran a brothel posing as a massage parlor and set up stings to steal money from competing prostitutes, according to SFGate. Butler was separately accused of being paid by attorneys to place illegal eavesdropping devices in people's cars, as well as supposedly setting up 'dirty DUIs,' where women would hire Butler to have their estranged partners arrested for drunk driving. The scam involved attractive women, employed by Butler, plying the targets with alcohol before they got behind the wheel. Butler would then tip off the police to a suspected drunk driver, leading to an arrest, the East Bay Times reported. Butler ultimately took a plea deal, pleading guilty in May 2012 to seven felony counts, including methamphetamine and marijuana distribution, theft, conspiracy, extortion, robbery and illegal wiretapping. In his confession to authorities, he admitted to his involvement in the array of crimes and ended up testifying against his partner, Wielsch. (The narcotics officer was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison in 2013.) In September 2012, Butler was sentenced to eight years in federal prison and fined $20,000. 'I want to apologize to the law enforcement community for the betrayal and embarrassment I inflicted upon it,' Butler said at his sentencing. 'I want to apologize to my family and friends who supported me through all of this.' Who was the whistleblower 'R. Rutherford'? In another shocking twist to the Butler case, Marino, Butler's director of operations at his firm, was responsible for exposing the private investigator's crimes. Marino revealed to This American Life that during the early days of filming the reality show, Butler approached him about selling large amounts of marijuana that had been seized in drug raids by Wielsch. Marino ended up paying for the drugs himself to satisfy his boss, but then Butler asked him to move more contraband, leaving Marino in a precarious situation. He was afraid to contact the authorities, unsure of which cops he could trust, and didn't want to go to the local news media, fearing to tip off Butler and Wielsch. 'Literally it was that day when I first saw those drugs that I knew I was gonna do something about it,' Marino told CBS News. 'I had no idea what it was, how I was gonna do it, when I was gonna do it. But knowing where those drugs came from, I knew something had to be done.' Marino ultimately decided to tip off Crooks, first with the information about the staged ride-along to see if the journalist would bite. When Crooks began looking into that, Marino knew he could trust him with more and sent the information about the illicit drug operation. Crooks connected the source he only knew as Rutherford with a trusted police contact, which led to the large-scale investigation into Butler and Wielsch. Marino ended up serving as a confidential informant, wearing multiple wires that captured sound and video. Marino went on to portray Joe Kenda in Investigation Discovery's docuseries Homicide Hunter for nine seasons from 2011 to 2020. What happened to the reality show P.I. Moms? As Butler's criminal enterprise crumbled behind the scenes, so did his hopes of becoming a reality television star. In January 2011, with questions about the legitimacy of his investigations looming, several of the P.I. moms handed in their resignations, Diablo reported. By early February, Lifetime had pulled the plug on the reality show. 'We eventually stopped filming because Chris Butler told us there would be plenty of cases to film, and that simply wasn't true,' Lucas Platt, the reality show's executive producer, told Diablo. 'The network was willing to invest millions of dollars in a show, and he was not able to come through." Platt added that he also had his doubts about Butler. 'The whole time I worked on the show, Butler never once looked me in the eye,' the showrunner said. 'I definitely felt that he was less than honest.' The moms employed by Butler, however, denied having any knowledge of the faked stings and investigations, according to a follow-up episode of Dr. Phil. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
The Sun
03-07-2025
- The Sun
Who are the P.I. Moms and where are they now? Private investigators hired by Chris Butler
Who were the members of the P.I. Moms? THE P.I. Moms were a unique group of college-educated "soccer moms" Chris Butler recruited and trained as private investigators for his company, Butler & Associates. They were based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, specifically in the East Bay area, which included the Diablo Valley. Meet the four P.I. Moms Michelle Allen: Background in acting, she directed operations while working undercover. Charmagne Peters: With a B.A. in rhetoric and communications, she carried out undercover decoy work and supervised sting operations. Denise Antoon: Holding a B.A. and J.D. in criminal justice, as well as teaching the subject, she carried out fraud investigations and surveillance. Ami Wiltz: A former cop who featured on shows including 48 Hours and Dr. Phil, where she described what it was like to juggle P.I. Moms investigations and family life. What was Chris Butler's vision? The disgraced former cop's idea was to use mothers' inherent skills and inconspicuousness for the following purposes: Undercover surveillance Sting operations Decoy work in infidelity and domestic cases General private investigations Assisting with his "Dirty DUIs scheme" What did Chris Butler's Dirty DUIs scheme involve? His female helpers would encourage men (often those going through tough divorce cases) to excessively drink alcohol. Once the men were drunk, the helpers would get them to drive. Corrupt police officers who worked with Butler, would pull these men over and arrest them for drink driving. These were planned traps meant to get people in trouble. Many of the arrests and charges from these tricks were later canceled and removed from people's records. Where are the PI Moms are now? Most of the original P.I Moms have quietly withdrew from the spotlight returned to private life and no longer work as high-profile investigators. Have the P.I. Moms reunited? The foursome have not appeared in any follow-up projects since the initial media storm, when Ami Wiltz was on 48 Hours and Dr. Phil. What did the P.I Moms say about the show? Ami talked about the excitement of the show's initial premise and the shock and disappointment as the truth about Butler's operations was exposed. The Canceled P.I. Moms TV Show Which channel was it supposed to air on? The P.I. Moms were supposed to get their own reality show on Lifetime. Why was the show canceled? The television programme never aired because a scandal broke out. Therefore, the network quickly dropped the show and there is no indication of a reboot or a revival. Was the P.I. Moms show scripted or reality-based? It was portrayed as reality but later revealed to be largely staged and fabricated for the cameras. Were there any legal issues involving the P.I. Moms? Michelle Allen, Charmagne Peters, Denise Antoon and Ami Wiltz were not directly involved in any criminal activity. Their boss, Chris Butler, pleaded guilty to the following: Robbery Extortion Illegal wiretapping Selling police-confiscated drugs including crystal meth, anabolic steroids, and marijuana Profiting from and receiving protection for an illegal massage parlor (brothel) Conspiring to stage illegal search-and-seizure operations against sex workers His associate, Norman Wielsch, pleaded guilty to: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and meth Theft from programs receiving federal funds. Two counts of civil rights conspiracy Stealing drugs from evidence facilities. Participating in phony "sting" operations, including false detentions and warrantless searches. How to watch Netflix's Trainwreck: P.I. Moms When does Trainwreck: P.I. Moms premiere? This new true crime documentary premieres on Netflix on July 22, 2025. What is Trainwreck: P.I. Moms about? The doc revisits the 2010 reality show P.I. Moms and the scandal that followed. It explores how the show unraveled when journalists and producers began to suspect that not everything was as it seemed. The documentary details the true story behind the show's collapse, the criminal allegations, and the broader impact on reality TV and law enforcement.
The Sun
01-07-2025
- The Sun
Who is Chris Butler and where is the cop turned private investigator, drug dealer and brothel manager now?
DISGRACED former cop Chris Butler promoted the 2010 reality TV concept P.I. Moms before his spectacular fall from grace. He was later convicted of drug dealing and running a brothel, as well as an array of other crimes — here's everything we know about him. 3 3 Who is Chris Butler? Christopher Butler is a former police officer, who worked in Antioch, California. He became a private investigator and gained notoriety for his involvement in a series of high-profile crimes. These include drug dealing, operating a brothel and orchestrating fraudulent DUI arrests. In the mid-2000s, Butler founded a private investigations firm — Butler & Associates Private Investigations — in Concord, California. He was also known for promoting the 2010 Lifetime show P.I. Moms of San Francisco, featuring female investigators catching cheating husbands red-handed while filming them. Butler's criminal activities came to light in 2011 when he and Norman Wielsch — then-commander of the Contra Costa County Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) — were arrested and indicted on multiple felony charges. The charges included selling confiscated drugs — with Butler's assistance, Wielsch stole methamphetamine, marijuana and steroids from police evidence lockers and sold them on the street. Butler also rented office space in Pleasant Hill, California, where he managed a brothel disguised as a massage parlor. The parlor's sex workers were required to make weekly payments, which Butler shared with Wielsch, in exchange for Wielsch's agreement to provide protection from law enforcement. Butler and Wielsch staged fake police raids, seizing money and possessions under the guise of law enforcement. In addition, Butler orchestrated stings to frame men for drunk driving at the request of ex-wives. He used his female investigators to lure targets into drinking with them before notifying police. Where is he now? In May 2012, Butler pleaded guilty to seven federal felony charges, including drug offenses, conspiracy, extortion and illegal wiretapping. His cooperation with federal investigators led to a plea deal, but the severity of his crimes resulted in an eight-year federal prison sentence. 3 Prosecutors noted that Butler's actions, motivated by a desire for fame and money, caused significant harm to individuals and undermined public trust in law enforcement. While he was eligible for release by around 2020, there is no recent public information indicating that Butler has returned to public life or resumed any professional activities, as of July 1, 2025. Netflix's Trainwreck: P.I. Moms A new true crime documentary revisits the reality show and the scandal that followed. The original P.I. Moms show aired in 2010 and was marketed as an inside look at women balancing motherhood and undercover detective work. The Netflix doc explores how the show unraveled when journalists and producers began to suspect that not everything was as it seemed. Allegations surfaced that the agency was being used as a front for drug dealing and that a local police officer was involved, leading to a full-blown scandal. The documentary promises to detail the true story behind the show's collapse and criminal allegations, as well as the broader impact of the case on reality television and law enforcement Trainwreck: P.I. Moms drops on Netflix on July 22, 2025.
