The near future of 2004,[i] Michael Townley, Trevor Philips, and Brad Snider partake in a failed robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton, resulting in all three being presumed dead. Nine years later, Michael is living with his family in the city of Los Santos, under the alias Michael De Santa, after making a secret agreement with the Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB)[j] agent Dave Norton to stay hidden. Across town, gangbanger Franklin Clinton is working for a corrupt Armenian car salesman and meets Michael while attempting to fraudulently repossess his son's car; the two later become friends. When Michael finds his wife sleeping with her tennis coach, he and Franklin chase the coach to a mansion, which Michael destroys in anger. The owner of the mansion, drug lord Martin Madrazo, demands compensation. Michael returns to a life of crime to obtain the money, enlisting Franklin as an accomplice. With the help of Michael's old friend Lester Crest, a disabled hacker, they rob a jewellery store to pay off the debt. Meanwhile, Trevor, who now lives in squalor on the outskirts of Los Santos, hears of the heist and realises that it was Michael's work; Trevor had believed that Michael was killed in the Ludendorff heist. Trevor tracks Michael down and reunites with him, forcing Michael to reluctantly accept him back into his life.
