I Stole $16,000,000 is based on the true story of a mastermind of crime -- Herbert Emerson Wilson, former ordained clergyman, war veteran, bank robber, mail bandit, safe cracker, jail breaker and convicted murderer. This is the blazing inside story of a safe cracker who stole more than $16,000,000 and eventually learned that crime does not pay after he was put behind bars for almost 20 years. In his own words, Herbert Emerson Wilson, a clever and daring thief, describes how he planned and pulled off robberies that baffled the police and FBI investigators for years until he was caught. With his own specially made explosives, his nimble fingers, his well-run syndicate of mobsters and musclemen, and his beautiful and wily moll, Wilson blasted, torched, tunneled and talked his way into banks, stores and armored cars -- without leaving a clue or a fingerprint.