I stole over $40,000 worth of sports drink and other beverages from Target, and used that money to pay for college.

This is my first post on reddit. I have always been hesitant about writing about this, but I think it's something I can look back on, and consider a wild part of my story. If I don't write it down now, I probably never will. I've been wanting to get this story out of my head for a long time.<br><br>Back in 2018, I moved to Laramie, Wyoming to start school at the University of Wyoming. I had received a full ride scholarship, which mostly covered the majority of my costs, but it didn't cover my living costs. I had no idea how I was going to pay for an apartment and groceries and other expenses. I assumed that I could find a job in town, but I was broke, and couldn't even afford the deposit on a place to live. <br><br>I had to get creative. If I could get some money together, I could secure a place to live, and figure out the rest later. I knew I had to do something radical, and I knew that I was willing to take a risk for my future. I knew that if I could get enough money to travel and take a road trip to New Mexico, I could make a lot of money selling stuff back to the truck stops out there. I put a small ad on Craigslist looking for someone to take me on a road trip with, with some extra cash for gas money. <br><br>I met someone who claimed he owned a few restaurants, and that he had a van that was sitting in his parking lot, as collateral for a debt that he was never going to get paid back. He said that he really wanted to take a trip and make some money. He had a legitimate business selling drinks to the casinos and truck stops in New Mexico. He said he had been doing it for years and knew the perfect route. He had a small Nissan van that he said had been used for this in the past, and that he was willing to sell me the drinks at a wholesale price, and I could just pay for the gas and insurance. I said that sounded perfect.<br><br>I took a bus from Laramie to Albuquerque, where we met up. We used his business credit card to purchase the insurance, and it covered the entire length of our trip. The first part of our journey, we went to Walmart. He said that he buys Gatorade Powder Mix in bulk, and it's easy to steal. We bought about 50 pounds of the stuff, and loaded it into the van. We covered it all up with a tarp, and then he started loading stuff into the van that he had already stolen. <br><br>I had no idea that he was a thief, and I really didn't know how I was going to react in that moment. I think I knew that I was in a weird spot and it was time to adapt. There was a bunch of Gatorade in bottles, Dasani water bottles, and even some of those large multi-packs of Gatorade bottles that I had never seen before. It was a lot of liquid, and I think it pretty much filled up the back of the van. We drove from there to the nearest Target. <br><br>For the next two days, we went to a few Targets and Walmarts in New Mexico, and stole Gatorade and bottled water. He taught me how to use a booster bag, which is essentially a large canvas bag with a special device in the bottom. When you go through the security scanners at the door, the special device blocks the alarm. It's wild how well it works, and how easy it is to steal large quantities of stuff. I was a quick learner, and he was a seasoned pro. We stole over a thousand cases of drinks in those two days. <br><br>From there, we went on a 4-5 day journey through the state, stopping at truck stops and casinos, and selling all of the drinks. We sold everything, and then drove back to Albuquerque. We counted all of our profit, which was about $89,000.00, minus the $5,000.00 that we spent on gas. We drove back to his place, dropped off the van, and counted up all of our profit. There was a total of about $85,000.00. We counted it all together, and he put it into a small bag and walked over, and dropped it on the floor. "This is yours, thank you for coming on this trip with me."<br><br>I couldn't even believe it, and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't believe that I had done it. It was like that moment when you ride a bike for the first time and don't think about it- I had just done something on pure instinct. He offered to drive me to the bus station and said good luck with school. I hitched a ride on a Greyhound back to Laramie, with a small bag and a wallet full of cash. I was set for the rest of my time in college. I used the money to pay for my living expenses, and I was able to travel the country and go on crazy adventures the entire time I was in school.<br><br>Edit:<br><br>Wow! I really didn't expect this to blow up, but I'm glad that I finally shared this story.<br><br>I think there are a lot of questions that you guys have for me, but I don't know if I want to reveal too much more of my identity. I've always been careful to never tell anyone too much about this. But I do want to say that I'm not a professional thief, and I do not steal regularly. This is a story about something that happened to me, and not something that I do always. I don't feel bad about it, and I don't think that I'll ever get in trouble for it. It was a radical decision that I made at the time, and I'm glad I made it.<br><br>Thank you for listening, and thank you for the awards.