Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

Abagnale explains that he chose to settle in Montpellier, France because the region is the ancestral home of his mother. He buys a small cottage with a high fence and spends his days driving around, hiking, or hanging out with a local vineyard owner. He stops by to see his grandparents and discreetly asks about his mother. He learns she has told relatives Frank is hitchhiking around the world.

At a market he regularly goes to, Abagnale is accosted by three gun-wielding gendarmes. They hustle him into the back of unmarked sedan and take him to the police station. A hardened detective identifies Abagnale by name and slaps him when he attempts to deny his identity. He threatens to place Abagnale in a cell with no food until he cooperates, and Abagnale signs an affidavit confessing to his crimes in France. The trial is straightforward and Abagnale offers no defense, but the lawyer cites Abagnale’s youth and the fact that he comes from a broken home as reasons for Abagnale’s criminal actions. Abagnale is sentenced to a year in prison.

The French prison is very rough. Abagnale is forced to live in a dark cell with only an empty bucket to relieve himself into.