Thankful for one last chance

Bobby Wilhelm's drug deals landed him beside several infamous criminals in prison.

Charlie Iannece and Anthony Pungitore of the Philadelphia Mafia, Gene Gotti of the New York Mafia and "Tylenol killer" James Lewis were among his friends.

But today the soft-spoken 54-year-old with a household Post Falls name is thankful for second chances.

Wilhelm, who grew up around his late father Bob's longtime bar Bob's 21 Club in Post Falls, was sentenced to life in prison and spent 16 years locked up.

He was denied parole twice and vividly remembers Round 3 nearly seven years ago.

"I said, 'Jesus, if you give me a chance, I'll never get in trouble again in my life and I'll be a good dad,'" Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm also asked Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, to speak at his third parole hearing.

"We get asked a lot as legislators to help people and I was putting my reputation and neck on the line," said Nonini, who went to church with Wilhelm's parents and had them as clients with his insurance business.

"Bobby has held up on his end of the bargain and has turned his life around 180 degrees."

Wilhelm was dumbfounded when his wish for parole was granted and, with the help of Terry Morgan from the Idaho State Police, landed a sales job at Dave Smith's Frontier Sales in Coeur d'Alene soon thereafter. Wilhelm has worked his way into a management position at the auto dealership.

"They should've hired me to wash cars, but I convinced them to make me a salesman when I started out," Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm's wild ride as a well-connected drug kingpin and path to redemption is told in his new book "Bobby Convict: School of Hard Knocks."

"This book is my penance to the community that people can change," he said. "If I can change, others can change. I was the worst of the worst."

It is out on Kindle, the print books came out Wednesday and it's expected to be available on Amazon in 10 days or so.

Wilhelm will sign and sell the books on Saturday at Bob's 21 Club, 212 E. Seltice Way next to Les Schwab Tires, starting at noon for the entire afternoon. Cost is $21.

"This book is not for the faint at heart; it's for those who have one," said Faye Higbee, who helped Wilhelm write the book and formerly worked for the Coeur d'Alene police.

In keeping with the "in-the-dark" theme - but with inspirational messages - Bible verses are printed in invisible ink in the book that can be only be read with an ultraviolet flashlight.

"When you're a criminal, you're not ready for Bible verses," he said. "Some who read this book will never pick up a Bible in their life, but they may read one verse in this and it may change them."

Pathway to destruction

Wilhelm's father, known as "Big Bob" to some locals, started Bob's 21 Club in 1966. Bobby and his sister, Keva Wolf, own the building, while sister Tina Swanson owns the business.

"I have a felony record, so I can't own a liquor license," Bobby said.

He started playing pool at the bar when he was 8, often winning money from patrons. While in high school, Wilhelm was bartender at the business.

"I didn't get into too much trouble in high school, except for drinking with friends," he said. "I tried a little pot and didn't like it. Back then, if the cops pulled you over and you had beer, they'd tell you to pour it out and go home."

The turning point, the 1977 Post Falls High graduate said, was when he tried a line of cocaine at age 21.

"It helped me focus with my attention deficit disorder," Wilhelm said. "By the second time (of using cocaine), I was selling it."

Sensing police were on to him, Wilhelm fled to Sidney, Mont., near the North Dakota border and opened a gambling room.

"I went to get away from that lifestyle, but I ended up dealing over there," he said.

It was there he utilized techniques from his notorious bootlegging grandfather Louis Critzer to turn games of chance to his advantage.

"I learned some criminal behaviors from my grandfather at Stateline as a kid, and I took it to an extreme," Wilhelm said.

The crime escalated to back-and-forth drug trips to Miami and dealing with Columbians and Cubans.

"The people I dealt with would get in trouble with the dealers and I'd pay them off to get their connections, so I kept moving up," Wilhelm said. "I'd be sitting in Miami with nobody who could speak English."

Wilhelm said he would make an average of $75,000 a month.

"It was a pretty good incentive," he said.

In 1984 Wilhelm returned to Spokane from a cocaine run in Miami only to learn a drug agent discovered his 3 pounds of coke. He struck the agent with his Corvette, resulting in a high-speed police pursuit from Spokane International Airport. Eventually, Wilhelm was arrested and spent three years in federal prison for the assault.

In another bust, his methamphetamine business was flourishing until the day he was caught with 75 pounds of marijuana and was sentenced to life in prison.

Wilhelm went to prison four different times for 16 years and his longest stretch of serving at one time was eight years.

"Going to prison was a fine-tuning school for me," he said. "I'd go to prison and make more connections. Each time I'd go to prison, my criminal skills were honed like a sharp knife. I'd come out and take over the area (with drug dealing). They took me off the streets, and they had good reasons to."

While behind bars, Wilhelm crossed the likes of Paul Schneider, a former Aryan Brotherhood shot caller who Bobby helped escape from a county jail, and Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. Darla Scott, a prostitute murdered by Spokane serial killer Robert Yates, lived at Wilhelm's house.

Despite being deep into dealing drugs, Wilhelm said he was never attacked nor did he pack a gun.

"A couple times I was the target of robberies, but I found out about them and had them handled," he said. "A bike gang who worked for me beat one guy up and was about to drag him behind a car with a rope.

"If you look at this as a business, you surround yourself with the right people. They counted on me, and I counted on them."

Road to recovery

Through a series of hard knocks, prison eventually became Wilhelm's friend. Recovery programs, he said, helped him get on the right path.

"I went to prison as a wild man with no (college) education, but prison saved my life," he said.

His addiction, he said, was more about power and money than being addicted to drugs.

"It took me all the programming in prison to figure it out," he said.

When asked how people can believe he has truly turned his life around, he said to take a look around him.

"The whole area would be polluted with drugs and I wouldn't have cops and ex-parole officers coming to my book signing," he said. "After law enforcement figured out that I've changed my life they're sending me car deals."

Higbee worked with the Coeur d'Alene Police for more than 31 years before she retired as the records supervisor in 2004.

"I knew his reputation well," Higbee said.

Higbee, who is on the board of Bitterroot Mountain Publishing, which published the book, was honored to be the "victim" who assisted the book. Ninety-seven people were interviewed for corroboration of Wilhelm's accounts.

"I felt that meeting him was a divine appointment," Higbee said. "I love adventure, and this has been a big one. I have been privileged to meet former really bad dudes, hug on some ladies who needed somebody to care about them, and just in general share a little compassion with folks who have trashed their lives with drugs."

Wayne Longo, Coeur d'Alene's police chief, called Wilhelm a "success story" because he has gone from deep trouble to becoming a productive member of society.

"He's a respected, hard-working person," Wilhelm said. "I admire his commitment."

After he was released from prison, Wilhelm accompanied Nonini to speak to the GED graduation at the prison in Cottonwood about how his life has changed.

"The inmates recognized him, and it was truly inspirational," Nonini said.

Nonini said he's thankful that Wilhelm hasn't let him down after the prison release. The legislator said Wilhelm has the "gift of gab" and is glad the energy has been refocused from dealing drugs to dealing cars.

"So many times you hear about the high recidivism rates (to reoffend)," Nonini said. "Bobby is a good example of the other side of recidivism. He's that guy who has made it good."

Wilhelm, who is single, said it's times like supporting his son Wolfgang, who is a Post Falls High student and excels at martial arts, that he's thankful for a second chance.

"This cat's nine lives were up," Wilhelm said. "I truly believe Jesus gave me one last chance, and I got it."

Book signing

Bobby Wilhelm will sign and sell his books on Saturday for $21 at Bob's 21 Club in Post Falls starting at noon through the rest of the day.