Crime Weekly - S3 Ep269: Rey Rivera: Pursuit of Happiness Ends in Tragedy (Part 1)

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Baltimore, 2006. A city buzzing with life suddenly became the backdrop to one of the most perplexing mysteries in recent history. Rey Rivera was a young, charismatic writer with big dreams and a loving wife by his side. He seemed to have it all. But on May 16th, he vanished without a trace, leaving behind nothing but a hurried phone call and a series of unanswered questions. Eight days later, his body was discovered in the most chilling and bizarre circumstances you could imagine- inside an unused conference room in the historic Belvedere Hotel. He appeared to have fallen from a significant height, crashing through the roof of the conference room. As the investigation into Rey’s death began, theories swirled; was it suicide, an accident or something far more sinister? Nothing was adding up, and the deeper investigators dug, the more tangled the mystery became. Rey had left his home abruptly that night, for seemingly no reason- why? What had led him to the Belvedere Hotel? And what secrets were hidden in a cryptic note found taped to his computer screen- a note filled with references to movies, codes and seemingly nonsensical musings? This is not just a story about a man’s life tragically ending, it is a journey into the unknown- a labyrinth of secrets, shadows and haunting questions that still linger almost two decades later. Try our coffee!! - www.CriminalCoffeeCo.com Become a Patreon member -- > https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeekly Shop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shop Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcast Website: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.com Instagram: @CrimeWeeklyPod Twitter: @CrimeWeeklyPod Facebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod ADS: 1. WarbyParker.com/CrimeWeekly - Pick 5 frames to try on for FREE! 2. EatIQBAR.com - Text WEEKLY to 64000 for 20% off ALL IQBAR products and FREE shipping! 3. PDSDebt.com/CrimeWeekly - Get your FREE debt analysis today! 4. Hero.co - Use code CRIMEWEEKLY for 10% off your order!

Bettering your business takes working with the best. With the James Hardy Alliance, you gain access to leads, training, networking, and support from the number one brand of siding in North America. Achieve new levels of success by joining the James Hardy Alliance today. Baltimore, 2006. A city buzzing with life suddenly became the backdrop to one of the most perplexing mysteries in recent history. Ray Rivera was a young, charismatic writer with big dreams and a loving wife by his side. He seemed to have it all. But on May 16th, he vanished without a trace, leaving behind nothing but a hurried phone call

and a series of unanswered questions. Eight days later, his body was discovered in the most chilling and bizarre circumstances you could imagine, inside an unused conference room in the historic Belvedere Hotel. He appeared to have fallen from a significant height, crashing through the roof of the conference room. As the investigation into Ray's death began,

theories swirled. Had he done this to himself? Was this an accident? Or something far more sinister? Nothing was adding up, and the deeper investigators dug, the more tangled the mystery became. Ray had left his home abruptly that night, for seemingly no reason. Why? What had led him to the Belvedere Hotel? And what secrets were hidden in a cryptic note found taped to his computer screen? A note filled with references to movies, codes, and seemingly nonsensical musings. This is not just a story about a man's life tragically ending. It is a journey into the unknown, a labyrinth of secrets, shadows, and haunting questions that still linger almost two decades later. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Crime Weekly. I'm Stephanie Harlow.

And I'm Derek Levasseur. And today we are diving into a new case, part one of a new case. And we're covering a case that I covered on YouTube several years ago, five years ago now in 2020. It's the Ray Rivera case, huge mystery, lots of rabbit holes to go down. It was featured on the Unsolved Mysteries reboot. And since then, I've been obsessed with it. New things have kind of developed since then. And we, Derek and I, had kind of mentioned the Ray Rivera case a few times over the past few months or so as we've covered other cases. And whenever something very strange and cryptic happens in a case, I always think of Ray Rivera's case and call back to it. And I brought it up so many times that I feel like now is a good time to cover it on

Crime Weekly and get Derek's perspective on it. Yeah, no, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. Just based on the teaser, I've heard of Ray Rivera before, haven't gone into the specifics of it. I sit it on Crime Weekly News, always love hearing about these cases and how they're conducted, the crime itself, because it's another tool for me. It's another tool to learn how these investigations were conducted, what were the results of them, what they did right, what they did wrong. So that's for me, the interest for covering it. Obviously education, you want to be more informed, want you guys to be more aware of your surroundings, but as a detective, what can I do better? What were some of the tips that happened here, the tricks that took place that maybe helped

solve the case or maybe some mistakes they made that resulted in a cold case. So yes, looking forward to covering it as always. I think there's a lot to learn here. And I know a lot of people have been requesting that we cover this one. Yeah. And actually, now that you talk about it from the law enforcement perspective, that's sort of some of the newer things that I've developed over the past few years, learning about the city that this took place in, which is Baltimore, Maryland. And at the time of Ray's death, kind of what was going on in the police department, the medical examiner's office, kind of what the crime statistics were and how that may have affected how Ray Rivera's death

was eventually ruled as kind of an undetermined thing. And that's all going to play in. And that's why I'm really glad that we're covering it now. But before we dive in, we do want to give a quick shout out to a new limited edition merch design we're putting in the Criminal Coffee Shop. This is my favorite, hands down, my favorite criminal coffee design thus far. I love it. It is something I want for myself immediately, even though I never wear pink. I'm not a pink person. You'll never see me wear pink, but I want it badly. It is so cute. Shannon and I were dying over the design when we were in Rhode Island a few weeks ago. And what's going to happen is she's going to put it up on the screen so you can see it. Now it is a pre-order through the month of January and February, but as long as you order by January 27th, you will get it in time for

Valentine's Day. For me at this point, I don't care whether I get it by Valentine's Day or not. I'm going to wear it all year. I love it. We're going to get it out to you guys. And for people who are on audio listening, it's a pink sweatshirt or a pink hooded sweatshirt. It's got red lettering. And instead of the criminal coffee signature fingerprint coffee bean, it's still a fingerprint. It's still a coffee bean, but it's in the shape of a heart. It's really cool. So go check it out. If you guys are interested, go to criminal coffee co.com. Like Stephanie said, you can order it right now. If you order before January 27th, I believe today's the 24th when you're listening to this. And as far as the YouTube listeners, it's going to come out on Sunday. So that's the 26th. So you still have time. If you want it

before Valentine's day order, as soon as you see this or as soon as you hear this. That will guarantee it. But we will have it through the month of February. So if you don't order in time, don't worry. We're still going to get it out to you. We're looking forward to getting it in your hands. And if you're not already subscribed to the Criminal Coffee newsletter, make sure you do so because they've known about it now for a few days. And we've already had over a couple hundred orders. So sign up for the free

newsletter, and you'll be the first to know about these limited edition drops. Ray Omar Rivera's story begins on June 10th, 1973, when he was born on an Air Force base in Madrid, Spain. His father, Angel Rivera, was stationed there as part of his duties in the United States Air Force, and along with his wife Maria, Angel instilled in their children a deep appreciation for their Puerto Rican heritage. Angel and Maria had both been born and raised in Puerto Rico and had spent most of their lives there. Ray's older brother, also named Angel, had been born there, and the Rivera's, Ray, his older brother Angel, and his younger sister Elena, grew up in a home where family, culture, and faith were central. This meant that family and

God would be very important to the Rivera family. The kids were raised to lead with love, take in the beauty of the world around them, be thankful for all they had, and exhibit passion and creativity whenever and wherever they could. Maria, in particular, made it her mission to ensure that her children knew their roots. And as Ray matured, his spirituality shifted. He became more personal and introspective, more spiritual rather than religious, but his belief in the importance of family and strong values remained steadfast. When Ray's father, Angel, retired from the Air Force, the Rivera family settled in Winter Park, Florida, a charming suburb of Orlando. And even as a child, Ray stood out. His vibrant personality and relentless

curiosity set him apart from his peers. From a young age, Ray Rivera exhibited many traits that would foreshadow his future success and the reputation he would gain for being talented and adept in many different areas. He was not satisfied with surface-level understanding. If something caught his interest, he pursued it with a single-minded determination until he mastered it. His sharp memory was almost photographic, a gift that served him well in both academic and creative pursuits, and music was one of Ray's earliest passions. Although he never received formal lessons,

he taught himself to play the piano by ear while his younger sister practiced during her piano lessons. Yeah, and a little side note, which is probably not surprising with some of my Derek-isms that you guys correct me on, for most of my adult life, I thought it was play by air. You know, play by air? Yeah, it's play by air. So not play by ear? Makes a lot more sense. Not play by air? You thought they it was play by air, you know, play by air. Yeah, it's play by air.

So not play by ear. Makes a lot more sense. Not play by ear. You thought they were saying play by air? Air, yeah. So I would always be like, yeah, let's play it by air. We'll see what happens. And then someone one day was like, dude, it's play by ear.

You know, like you're listening to something. Yeah. And I was like, oh, yeah, that makes a lot more sense. I love that for you. Yeah. You know, when I was a kid, my mom used to like drive out places and she'd be like, oh, this person lives out in East Jesus. She'd always say that. And I thought for the longest time for far too long, probably into my twenties, that East Jesus was an actual place where I live. Not like just, she meant it was far, far away. Yeah. Well,

we learned, but see, you were, you were a kid. I was in my twenties. I kept thinking this until I was in my twenties. Okay. So I feel better. Yeah. You should, you should. But see, you were a kid. I was in my 20s. I kept thinking this until I was in my 20s. Oh, okay. So I feel better. Yeah, you should. You should. We're both not very smart. So also on a visit to Puerto Rico, because his family was from Puerto Rico, so they'd

go back and visit every now and then, Ray discovered an instrument called the cuatro. This is a traditional string instrument. It's sort of shaped like a viola, but with 10 strings. And he was fascinated by its unique sound, so he dedicated himself to learning how to play it during that visit. And he did. He figured it out and he played it. So this dedication to music was just one example of Ray's determination to pursue whatever

inspired him. His mother said that when Ray decided he wanted to do something, there wasn't any back and forth or second guessing. He just did it. Athleticism was another defining feature of Ray's life. In high school, he excelled in both basketball and swimming, but swimming became his true love. His natural talent and hard work earned him a spot on the Winter Park Wildcats water polo team. And his junior year marked a turning point when he was invited to attend an

elite Olympic training camp in California. The experience was reportedly transformative, cementing Ray's aspirations to compete at the highest level. In 1991, sports writer Bill Buckalter, reporting for the Orlando Sentinel, called Ray, quote, a budding national caliber junior performer and a complete player, end quote. Ray's water polo coach, Jack Horton, described Ray as being very personable, funny, and quick-witted. He was someone who everybody liked, but he was also sensitive and introspective. By his senior year, Ray's skills and dedication had earned him a full athletic scholarship to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he could continue to pursue his passion for swimming and water polo. Ray began college in 1992, balancing the rigorous demands of collegiate athletics with

his studies as an English major. Writing became a creative outlet where Ray's imagination could flourish. He dreamed of becoming a screenwriter, captivated by the world of movies, and he loved all things movies. He didn't just like watching them. He loved watching them, analyzing them, creating his own, and this gave him endless joy. Beyond his talents in the pool and on the page,

Ray's magnetic personality made him beloved by peers and mentors alike. His warm smile and sharp sense of humor were unforgettable. And during his time at the University of the Pacific, Ray achieved significant milestones. He scored over 100 goals for his water polo team, and he was selected to compete in the 1994 Summer Olympic Festival in St. Louis, Missouri. Organized by the U.S. Olympic Committee, the event was designed to give aspiring athletes a taste of the Olympics, and Ray hoped that it would be a stepping stone to joining the U.S. Olympic water polo team for the 1996 Atlanta Games. After graduating from college, Ray's journey took him to Spain, where he played

professionally for the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation's water polo team. Now, obviously, his family's from Puerto Rico. He goes to Puerto Rico a lot. His family is speaking Spanish at home. So at that time, Ray was already fluent in Spanish, and he supported himself by teaching English. Now, this is where we get the first hint that although Ray was laid back and easy to like and talented, he maybe did have a little bit of a temper, especially if he was drinking. One of his teammates said that Ray was a smart guy with a big smile and a great sense of humor who liked to tell jokes. But he could also be tough and would sometimes get into fights when he was drunk. Ray's time in Spain was marked by growth and discovery. But his path shifted again when he received a call inviting him to train

with the U.S. Olympic water polo team. This is what he'd been waiting for his whole high school career, his whole college career. He was very excited, so he immediately flew to Los Angeles, where he poured himself into training only to face another heartbreak when he was ultimately cut from the roster. Reportedly, two weeks before the team left for Atlanta, Ray and his coach had butted heads. They had an argument and this led to his dismissal. Now, apparently this would end up being the biggest regret of Ray's life, which I'm sure you can understand. Derek, you played sports throughout high school and college and you got a scholarship to play baseball, didn't you? Yep, yep that's right not good enough to play in the pros though were you hoping

to go pro though isn't that the whole reason i became a police officer i was playing uh i was playing for two years and i wanted to go pro be a pitcher and i realized when i went down to florida for spring training and played against the university of miami which is a division one school there's some of the best baseball players in the country. And they hit about four or five home runs off me in two innings. I realized that my career as a baseball player was probably coming to an end sooner than later. So I was like, you know what? Let's go be a cop. Let's pivot. Let's make a career change here. And that summer I took the police test. Yeah. And I mean, that's pretty much where Ray was at, right? Huge blow,

big time disappointment. Like those who knew him said, it knocked the air out of him for quite a while. Yeah. I mean, he's obviously a much better athlete than I was. I mean, I wasn't even at that level. I wasn't getting offers to go train with the Olympic team, but yeah, it was even a blow for me, even at a lower level where I was probably a little too optimistic about my future projections. And I feel like there's these pivotal moments in our lives where, you know, for a very long time, we see our future being one way and then something happens, which kind of overnight wipes that possibility off the map.

And then- Your entire life as a child, you grow up and you have this dream and in one weekend or a month, you realize this thing that I've been kind of working towards my entire life, it's not happening. It's just not there anymore, yeah. So it leaves you with a question of purpose. Like what did I do?

Did I waste my time? Did I make a mistake? I'm sure there's a lot that goes through that. Probably also makes you probably question yourself and like how good you were, your worth, you know, could I have done something more? Could I have done something different? For me, it was definitely a little easier because it was just like a logical thing. For example, you got to throw in the nineties to be a professional pitcher. I didn't. The math doesn't add up. So for him, it's more about getting on this team, realizing you might have the physical attributes, but just something that is not there where you're not the cream of the crop. Well, I don't think it was that. I think he was talented enough to do it, but you're talking

about the Olympics. Yeah, it's different. It's next level. It's not even that I think he could have done it, but apparently it was his maybe push against authority, maybe his attitude and the coach was like, Hey, there's 10, 20 guys waiting to take your place who are just as good as you, who aren't going to give me, you know, a hard time who aren't going to push back, who are going to treat me with the respect as your coach that I deserve. I'm not sure exactly what happened between Ray and his coach, but something happened that was big enough for the coach to say, hey, we are not going to gel together and therefore you're out. So Ray has to deal with the fact that I'm good enough in every way, but something about my behavior or the way I handle authority. Yeah, exactly.

That's what I'm saying. My choice was a lot easier. It was a physical limitation, but when you go in there and you know that you're on this path and there's a fork in the road, and because you chose a certain direction, you didn't ultimately accomplish your dream. And that is something that I'm sure it's not, it's a, it's a tale as old as time happens to a lot of athletes who are good enough, but make wrong decisions, whether it's outside the sport or something like this. And yeah, that's something they got to live with for the rest of their life. And it's not easy when you've dedicated so much to being good at it. Well, um, I forget who said this, but, um, there's a quote I like where it says, I never lose. I only learn.

And it appears. That's a great quote, actually. Yeah. It's kind of like even when the worst things happen to you, like what can you learn from that? And it looks like kind of Ray took this, you know, on the chin. He was like, I this is my fault. I did this because of my own, you know, stupid behavior or my youthful kind of stubbornness,

and I can let this destroy me or I can pivot, kind of like you did. And even though he had this huge disappointment, Ray's resilience and his strength and his optimism, they did not waver, and he redirected his energy toward his other passion, which was writing. So we are going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. All right, we're back. Ray's got this horrible, you know, blow to his professional career, to his future. He's still in California, even though he was from Winter Park, Florida. And instead of going back home with his tail between his legs, Ray stayed in California. And he took on multiple jobs to support himself while pursuing his dream of becoming a screenwriter.

He taught Spanish and coached swimming and water polo at John Burroughs High School in Burbank. And obviously, his students loved him. Everyone loved him. Ray was young, energetic, passionate, very handsome. He stood at six foot five with an athletic build, dark hair, dark eyes, and this brilliant smile. And he cut a very striking figure in the halls of John Burroughs. But the students admired him not just for his energy and passion in coaching, but because they could tell he genuinely cared about them and their futures. One student remembered that Ray was the only teacher he felt comfortable calling coach on and off the pool deck. And this young man said, quote, he's the only person who ever understood what drove me to swim and used that knowledge to mold me into a better athlete, but more importantly, a better individual, end quote. Ray also took another job in the

admissions office at the Los Angeles Film School, not because it paid well by any means, but because it allowed him to take classes there for free. And this shows you just how dedicated Ray was to seeing his dreams come to life, to making sure that his potential was realized and not wasted again. He was working three jobs, he was taking classes, and during all of that, he was finding time to write and complete his first screenplay. It was called Virtuoso, and the script was a surreal horror story about a Puerto Rican piano player. And not only was Ray obviously very proud of it, but everyone he showed it to who read it absolutely loved it, and they encouraged him to continue on with this path in his life.

In 2000, Ray's life took a little bit of a different direction when he met Allison Jones, a bright and accomplished woman with a love for both sports and writing. They met through a mutual friend, and their connection was immediate and profound. Allison had played several sports at her high school in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado. She was playing basketball, soccer, volleyball, cross country, and she had graduated from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in accounting and business communications. Allison's warmth, intelligence, and drive complemented Ray's own ambitions, and the two quickly fell in love. They met in 2000, they moved in together in 2002, and Ray proposed in 2004.

Although Allison enthusiastically agreed to be Ray's wife, Ray was concerned because money was tight, especially living in a place like LA. He hadn't made it big yet in the movie world or the entertainment industry, and he wanted to make more money so that they could plan the wedding of their dreams and have a financial advantage when starting a life together.

Shortly after their engagement in September of 2004, Ray received an unexpected job offer from somebody named Frank Porter Stansberry, a high school friend from his water polo days. Stansberry invited Ray to Baltimore to help write financial newsletters for his company, Stansberry Research LLC. Now we have to talk about Frank Porter Stansberry, who he was, and how he managed to even get into a position to be able to offer Ray and others opportunities to work for his company. Stansberry had been a teammate of Ray's on the Winter Park water polo team back in Florida. He played the position of goalkeeper. And although Ray and Stansberry were friends,

their dynamic didn't appear to be totally equal. Stansberry seemed to really look up to Ray, who definitely excelled at everything he did, while Frank Porter Stansberry was just kind of average across the board. He never really stood out. He was just kind of okay academically, in sports, in life. He was just middle of the road. That's why everyone was kind of surprised when, of all people, Frank Porter Stansberry ended up wealthy and running his own business by the time he was 30. Now, according to Porter, his biological father had passed away in Vietnam, and he was later adopted by the man that his mother married. This man's name was Frank Porter Stansberry. And after adopting both Porter and his younger brother, Stansberry decided to rename them,

giving the eldest boy his own name. And this is why Porter preferred to go by his middle name. So instead of going by Frank Porter Stansberry or going by Frank, Porter preferred to go by his middle name. So instead of going by Frank Porter Stansbury or going by Frank, he wanted to go by Porter. And this was to differentiate himself from his adoptive father. Do you think that's weird? By the way, I remember talking about this in my first video that you would adopt a child who wasn't like a baby and then just change his entire name. I don't know. Is that weird? Like, is it not just his last name, his entire name? Yeah, I don't know.

So my stepdad came into the picture when I was seven. My brother chose to change his name to my stepfather's last name much later in life for reasons that we don't have to discuss here. Had a lot to do with my biological father. I chose to keep my name for lot to do with my biological father. I chose to keep my name for some of the reasons we mentioned earlier. I played sports under that name. I was an officer under that name. Everything that I owned was under that name. And, you know, the name was,

the last name was now mine. So I don't associate it with my biological father. But things happen for different reasons. I'm not going to judge. It's not the first time I've heard that happening, I guess. That's just the last name. The whole name. I know. I know. Yeah, that's a lot.

Like, hey, I wasn't there when you were born, but you're being reborn and I'm giving you your name. But I don't know the circumstances behind it. Maybe it was something they had discussed. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I don't like to judge because I know that this is probably not the first time this has happened. I don't know how old Porter was when his adopted father came into

his life. Right. But he was definitely old enough to have already established his name and probably had a few years, if not, you know not a handful of years with that name. So it's like if I went home and just named my dog Alfie a different name, he would look at me like, who the hell are you talking to? So Porter attended the University of Florida, where he earned a degree in political science, a degree he later called incredibly useless. He didn't come from a wealthy background, nor did he have the advantage of an influential family business waiting for him after graduation. He stresses this all the time, his whole rags to riches kind of story.

But Porter was determined to succeed knowing that he'd have to rely on his own grit, resourcefulness, and sheer determination to make it happen. So he was on this podcast called the Self-Made Man Podcast in 2015, and Porter shared that he had launched his business from the kitchen table of a third floor walk up in one of Baltimore's most notoriously quite honestly, has just sort of been accidental in a way. And I'm not trying to be falsely modest. in Baltimore's most notorious slum would end up being a $150 million a year plus revenues company with 200 employees and customers in 150 countries, I would have thought that you were completely insane. And so I want to give some kudos and some inspiration to folks who are starting out with very small efforts.

What's the Chinese saying about every great journey starts with a single step? And if you have taken it upon yourself to begin your own business efforts, I want to pat you on the back and give you some applause and tell you that it can be by far the most rewarding thing you've ever done in your life. So that's Porter Stansberry talking about how he got started in his own business. But I want to talk about what happened to him and who he worked for and who he worked with and kind of connections that he made after graduating from college. Because obviously, he didn't just graduate from college and then move from Florida to Baltimore, get a borrowed laptop and start this, you know, multimillion dollar business. Right. But before I do, I want to also clarify the quote that I that I mentioned earlier.

It was Nelson Mandela. And he said, I never lose. I either win or I learn. That's a great one. It's a really great quote. And I think about it all the time when things in life are kind of, it feels like I'm getting hit by blow after blow after blow. And I have a tendency to start feeling bad for myself. I'm like, Hey, don't, don't do that because that is the kiss of death. When you start, there's a, there's another one that I like, and it's kind of, it's, it's variants from everybody. And I put it in my book where basically, you know, they say, don't run from failure because failure is where the lessons are, you know, kind of similar in that, it's what you make of it in that, in that failure, what do you take from it so that you prevent it

from happening in the future, or at least in that capacity. So kind of similar take, but it all, it does hold true. Some people go through some adversity and they're like, oh my God, my life's over. And then there's those other people who look at it and go, okay, let's break this down. Here's what happened. Why did it happen? What can I tinker with? What can I change so that it doesn't happen again? I wish I was like that all the time. I can't sit here and lie to you guys and say I am. Sometimes I'm like, you know what the, you know what? Yeah, but that's temporary. It's a temporary state. You don't spiral down into it. And I think that any adversity, it makes you stronger, you know?

Absolutely. And it's like working out, you know, if you don't work out, if you never break your muscles, they won't grow back stronger. And so sometimes we have to be broken in order to come back stronger and ready to actually handle the challenges that life is definitely going to throw at you. But OK, so we're going to kind of go a little bit away from Ray. We're going to talk about Porter Stansberry, what he did after college, who he worked with, like I said. And this is all going to be important. So I want everyone to know I'm not just randomly talking about these people.

The theories about what happened to Ray, many or some of them sort of tie back to Frank Porter Stansberry and also his connections and all of these individuals and businesses and umbrella corporations and things like that that he was involved in because there's a lot of people that believe Ray Rivera did not take his own life. I am one of them, I will say. Maybe he knew too much or had stumbled upon something that he wasn't supposed to see. And as a result, he was the victim of some very powerful people who wanted to tie up some very messy loose ends. Yeah, I figured as much when you're going on this parallel story about this gentleman that there had to be a connection here and it wasn't going to be just that he's successful.

Although I will say this happened, what happened to Ray happened in 2006, correct? Correct. And so this podcast that we just played happened in 2015. So it's important to note for legal reasons, obviously this gentleman, Frank Porter, has not been charged with a crime and apparently still doing very well because in 2015, what did he say, $150 million in revenue, gross revenue for one year. So he's still doing well, just putting that out there. No, I'm looking forward to see the connections and see why people think that this individual may be connected to this in some way. And I'm sure this is probably not the first time this theory has been brought up.

No, not at all. Not at all. Yeah, legally to cover us, I have sprinkled in some disclaimers throughout. Great, great, great. Yeah, I got you. I appreciate you. You know me, I start sweating.

I know you do. You start saying, you know. Whenever we talk about conspiracies, Derek's like, legally, legally, we're not saying anything. We just, you know, to give you a little bit behind the scenes, we just got all of our insurance updated. We got new policies to make sure everything's good. And I just sit over here and I'm just like,

what's she going to say? What's she going to say? So you mean there's never been a better time to talk about this? No, I don't want to use the insurance. As we know from this country we live in, they will find ways not to help us even though we pay for it. So we don't want to have to go there. But yes, I do start sweating under my hat. I'm surprised I still have all my hair after some of this. But yes, legally, we're covered. We're qualifying here. You guys can yell at me if you want. We need to qualify. Okay. So after graduating from college, Porter initially worked as a junior analyst for a Florida-based research company. And he says himself, like, yo, I don't even know how we stayed in business, this company, and everyone in it did not know what the hell they

were doing. It was pretty bad. But in 1996, that company was acquired by one of its clients. And Porter refers to this person as one of their few clients. He talks mad junk about this Florida company that he worked for. One of their few clients, William Bonner, bought the company. Now, following that acquisition, Bonner fired nearly all the staff except for Porter and his colleague, Steve Sugirio. Now, the two were then brought on to work for Bonner's company, Agora, in Baltimore, Maryland. This is how Porter gets from Florida to Baltimore. And to understand Porter's journey, it is important to delve into Agora Inc. and its founder, William Bonner. Now, according to the Agora financial website, Bonner founded the company Agora Inc. in 1978 as a small publishing company in Washington, D.C. Over the years,

Agora grew into one of the largest and most successful consumer newsletter publishers globally. Today, it operates in eight countries across six continents. And Bonner himself has been described as a man of vision, transforming Agora into a mini multinational, which is a term used to describe smaller companies with international operations, if that makes sense. And when I say a newsletter publisher, you're familiar with what that means, right? So if you follow, let's say you follow somebody on YouTube and they give financial advice and they say, sign up for our newsletter. And then you'll get this newsletter emailed to you weekly, monthly, whatever, whatever

you pay for, whatever you sign up for. And in these newsletters, they're just going to basically elaborate and be more detailed about the advice that they're already giving on their podcast or their YouTube channel or what have you. That's kind of the business model we're talking about here. All right. So let's take a quick break and we'll come back and we'll talk about William Bonner and Agora Inc. All right, we're back. So William Bonner's background is actually kind of telling. He attended Georgetown University Law School and later

worked for the National Taxpayers Union, which was a conservative advocacy group. Now, these experiences likely shaped his views on taxation, government spending, and financial independence, which became central themes in Agora's publications. Agora specialized in newsletters focusing on personal finance, investments, and strategies for minimizing tax exposure. Bonner's philosophy and publications reflect a distinctly libertarian ethos favoring minimal government interference and a strong emphasis on individual financial freedom. And I'm not sure if many people know what sort of beliefs libertarians have, but one of their main ones is that the government should not be taxing you, that taxation is theft.

Yeah, I mean, listen, maybe people would disagree with. That taxation is theft. Yeah. I mean, listen, maybe people would disagree with you there. I don't know. I mean, I sometimes consider myself a libertarian in the sense where I'm more conservative as far as financial issues are concerned and more liberal as far as social issues. But I don't claim to be an expert on that stuff. I just believe in common sense. That's where I go. But yeah, libertarians, I mean, yeah, sure. I'm sure some would agree with you. I'm sure some won't. And if they don't, you'll be knowing about it in the comment section. I mean, the main belief of libertarians is that- We should not be taxed. Yeah. Taxation is theft. That's what they say. If that's what it means, then I'm on for it. I will say this. I do think it's a crime that we're

taxed on the money we make and then also taxed on the things we purchase. So it's like getting taxed everywhere. But here I am. We'll go on a rant about that stuff. But no. It's just a huge tenant in the libertarian belief. Keep what you earn. Reduce or eliminate taxes wherever possible.

They believe in running your own business, enjoying your own property, reducing regulations. This would create more jobs, higher pay, lower prices. Choose your own lifestyle, right? The government shouldn't have a say in the kind of life you lead, like whatever you do in the privacy of your own home, et cetera. That's on you. They technically do believe in true and equal treatment under the law, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexuality, personal characteristics. They believe also that self-defense is a right, not a political favor, that you should be able to own a firearm.

These are the basic premises of what libertarians believe. And William Bonner and his newsletters had very strong libertarian tones and themes to them. So in 1979, Agora launched its flagship newsletter called International Living, which highlighted the best places in the world to live, retire, travel, and invest. And Bonner himself was a strong proponent

of global property ownership with personal investments, including two chateaus in France and a ranch in Argentina. So it's clear he's got money. He's doing okay. He's doing all right. My chateau is in Finnish, Jep.

Is your chateau in France? No, it's in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. And only people from Pawtucket will be like, okay, we get the joke. Well, it's clear that Bonner valued wealth building, wealth preservation, though his methods and philosophies might raise eyebrows for their libertarian leanings. Agora's subsidiaries, however, do warrant some closer scrutiny. So after two years at Agora, Frank Porter Stansberry was fired for insubordination. This is a trait that seemed to reflect his aversion to authority.

In his own words, Porter said, quote, I was fired. Frankly, I don't really blame them because I wasn't a very good employee in the sense that I didn't really like being told what to do, end quote. And maybe Porter and Ray sort of shared that, especially in their 20s and their younger years where they kind of consider themselves mavericks. Maybe they thought they knew it all, had more to offer than their elders were giving them credit for. And so they pushed back at a problem with authority, things like that. I mean, I think this is such a common trend. It really is. I mean, hiring employees, one of the hardest thing you come across is the employees are there, they learn from you, and then within a year,

they feel like they know more than you. And I always feel like that's where you start to find the problems. It's not initially, everyone's kind of just learning in a sponge at first, but once they learn the process and they kind of think they have it all figured out, now they want to start giving you advice. And as the owner or the boss, that's not always something you're receptive to. If you develop the process that has worked, you may not be interested in changing that up. And that can come with some rebellion from the younger employees or the newer employees. And then suddenly they're like, why am I working here for you when I know more than you? And that's where the conflict can come. Usually again, like six months to a year in,

is the person going to be a good employee or are they going to be someone who has a question or inquires about every single decision you make? And at least he had some self-awareness where he said, hey, listen, I get it. I wasn't a good employee. It doesn't mean he wasn't good at what he did. It just meant that he wasn't receptive to maybe constructive criticism or direction. Yeah. And I mean, as he's talking now in the future, right, he's looking at this in hindsight. Now he's got his own company. He hires his own employees. He gets it. Yeah. He's probably,

I can see why it was annoying. Oh, yeah. Well, why are we doing it this way? But why? It does. It can get annoying. Yes. But despite being fired from Agora Inc., he was soon brought back into the Agora ecosystem as a junior editor for the Oxford Club. This is a subsidiary of Agora. So the Oxford Club has a very intriguing origin story. It began as the Royal Society of Leichenstein, founded in Boca Raton, Florida, by two individuals, Joe Nadell and Mark Ford, who actually happened to be a close friend of Porter's. Despite its impressive name, the society had no connection to the actual principality

of Leichenstein. Instead, it operated what many would consider to be a direct mail scheme. One particularly bold tactic involved sending out cassette tapes narrated by a guy. And he had like a British accent because, you know, that makes him sound more legitimate. I wish I had a British accent. You can. You can have a British accent right now. That was not a good British accent. I know.

It was like really like it was kind of like off the cuff. I don't know. I don't know. What do you want? You want like a posh British accent? You want more like a cockney? I mean, you almost have to give another one now to redeem yourself. That was bad.

Okay. Well, one particularly bold tactic involved sending out cassette tapes narrated by a man with a British accent. That was better. It was a little better. I need some practice. You should do the whole episode or the rest of the episode in that. No, I'm just kidding.

Oh, they would hate me. Yes. So this man with the British accent, which made him more legitimate, he claimed to represent a secret society dedicated to amassing wealth for its members. Recipients were instructed to apply for membership and send $100 to a Zurich address. Zurich is in Switzerland, in case anybody didn't know. And there were ominous instructions to destroy this tape now, you know, like Inspector Gadget. The marketing hinged on exclusivity and secrecy, evoking shades of

Fight Club, except this was about money, not underground brawls. So by the 1990s, this type of operation was losing credibility, particularly as the Better Business Bureau and major newspapers like the New York Times and the Boston Globe began investigating Joe Nadell and his ventures. One major scandal revolved around a company called GoldCore. Now, this company claimed to turn Costa Rican beach sand into gold using a supposedly revolutionary process. Investors were flown in on private jets to witness the operation, but the entire scheme was, surprise, surprise, fabricated. You can't turn sand into gold. I think scientifically people should have known that. I know. Wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be great? In 1991, the government actually froze Joe Nadell's assets and Gold

Core collapsed, leaving approximately 3,000 investors with $50 million in losses. Legal proceedings returned only a fraction of these stolen funds. Following these scandals, the Royal Society of Leichenstein was rebranded as the Passport Club, which Agora eventually acquired. The club, now under Agora, marketed investment seminars and guides on offshore banking and tax avoidance. Later renamed the Oxford Club, the organization emphasized wealth-building strategies and cultivated an image of exclusivity and old-world sophistication. Mark Ford, who had rebranded himself as Michael Masterson, remained an influential figure in that organization, serving as a mentor to Porter. So remember, Joe Nadell and Mark Ford do this whole

Royal Lichtenstein Society thing out of Boca Raton, Florida. This is bringing to me images of the Wolf of Wall Street, right? Similar, yeah. Penny stocks being sold. Yeah, I mean, they're selling a dream that's not a reality and they're getting a lot of people to believe in that dream and they're profiting off of it. Can I ask a quick just clarification question? I'm with you here. This is all the setup, but just for everybody following the story, because this is the first time I'm hearing the story. You're mentioning a lot of names, a lot of different organizations. So I just want to clarify, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure you'll correct me. These are all things that happened well before Ray Rivera came into the picture. You're giving us the foundation, the context of these individuals who may or may not

have been involved in something much later with Ray Rivera. Am I fair in saying that? Is that correct? Yes, there's all purpose for it. There's all purpose. I get it. I foreshadowed it by saying there's all a purpose for it. It's all leading somewhere. And yes, all of these activities that are going to soon include Porter are going to kind of lead up right to the place where Porter then invites Ray into the fold. Ray into the fold. Right. So the context matters here because we have to understand these people. And it might give you a little bit of insight as to why there are individuals out

there who believe there might be something bigger going on with Ray Rivera. These are things that you're talking about that have, can be substantiated. They can be proven they happened. So these are the types of guys we're dealing with. Does it mean they were involved in a murder? No, not necessarily, but I do think the context matters and I'm glad it's a lot to follow even for me. I'm so I'm sure if you're listening in a car or watching on YouTube, but kind of cleaning the house, you got to kind of follow everything because this is the reason why people believe there may be something more to raise death. And so it's important, even though it can get a little, I'm almost a little lost in the weeds at certain points, trying to follow all the businesses and how they've evolved over the

years. And basically it's the same organization under a different name with different players involved, but the root of it all is greed. That's what you need to know. Exactly. That's what I was going to say. So what is the main motive for killing people? Money. Money. That's it. And to hide and to get rid of anyone who could change that. Yes. Now, when you have businesses like these, and then you have organizations in the United States Who could change that? Yes. are going to be absolutely ridiculous, like millions and millions of dollars that if you get caught doing these things, you're going to have to pay out because you're doing something that's maybe in a gray area of the law or maybe outright not legal. So that's why when we look at millions of dollars on the line, there are a lot of people who might participate in some shady

moral behavior who might think that somebody's life is worth less than the millions and millions of dollars that they have on the line. Right. Once you have that, you've established that lifestyle, like we said, keyword greed, it's amazing what people will do to protect that. I agree. I comply. And we've seen it happen over and over and over again. And also with these higher organizations, right? Like the CEOs and CEOs of these companies, whether they're here or overseas, you know, they're not the ones out there, you know, pulling the trigger. Right. So it's almost like in their mind. Maybe they are, maybe they're not. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. But in most cases, it's kind of like

what you don't know, don't hurt you. It basically, Hey, whatever you got to do to make this outcome happen, you do what you got to do. But the less I know, the better. Therefore, I'm not culpable. I can never clear conscience. That's how they justify it in their own heads. So they know what's going on. They know the things that are being done behind closed doors in order to protect what they have. And they just choose to ignore it. Maybe they do. Maybe they don't. Maybe some do. Maybe some don't. Who knows? But definitely some do. Now, we have the Royal Society of Leichenstein rebranded as the Passport Club. Now, Bill Bonner and Agora have that. Now, remember that Joe Nadell got caught up.

He got fined. He's in trouble. But his other friend who started the business with him, Mark Ford, he kind of flew under the radar, evaded a lot of the negative outcomes that Joe Nadell had. He rebrands himself into Michael Masterson. He stays in the organization, which is now the Oxford Club, who now Porter Stansberry works for the Oxford Club. And Mark Ford has become a mentor to Porter.

So to be clear, and for legal reasons, I am not saying there is evidence that the Oxford Club retained the dubious practices of its predecessors. It's common for businesses to evolve significantly after acquisition, and it's likely that the Oxford Club shifted away from its controversial roots. There is my legal disclaimer for you. I'm so proud of you. Thank you. Nevertheless, its history does offer a fascinating glimpse into the ecosystem that Porter entered as he began building his own career and his own company. And with that, let's take a quick break.

We'll be right back. So Porter Stansbury is now with the Oxford Club. After a year with the Oxford Club, he was given the green light to branch out on his own and establish his own Agora subsidiary, which he named Pirate Investor LLC. Now, the company was marketed as a subscription-based publisher of financial information and software, claiming to serve millions of investors worldwide. And Porter took a unique approach to hiring. He said he valued character and gumption over education or experience.

He wasn't interested in candidates with prestigious degrees or extensive resumes. Instead, he sought out people with common sense and a good sense of humor, even if they had zero experience in money management. Essentially, he called up his old high school friends and offered them jobs. And we're going to talk about that a little bit more in a second. But in May of 2002, so we're getting closer to 2006, right? In May of 2002, Porter sent an email to his subscribers under the alias

Jay McDaniel. So Porter's sending an email to his subscribers, but he's not sending it as Frank Porter Stansberry. He's sending it as Jay McDaniels. And he promoted what he called a super inside tip. The email was a teaser hinting that he had confidential information about a specific company stock that was about to skyrocket. Subscribers were told that they would get the full details, including the name of that company. But in order to do that, they would have to pay an additional $1,000 beyond their existing subscription fees. Yeah, but I mean, for this information, thousand bucks, that's a drop in the bucket. You're going to make millions. Sure, that's what the email said. Right? So I mean, they're just trying to get paid on the front end. You're really the beneficiary here. You're going to make millions. I'm sure that's what the email said. Right? So, I mean, I'm just, they're just trying to get paid on the front end.

You're really the beneficiary here. You're going to make all the money. Yeah. And I mean, such a great tip. You think that you'd want to keep it to yourself. What a nice person. Nevermind the fact that this was technically being insider trading, something going on, if he had it in, you know, but that's.

If it was a real tip, right? Yeah, if it was a real tip. Yeah. So this email was sent to 800,000 people. That's how many people subscribed to the newsletter. 1,217 of them took the bait. They paid that $1,000 fee. Pirate Investor LLC raked in over 1.2 million.

200K of that went directly into Porter's pocket. And in an internal memo, Porter reportedly told his employees, quote, if we are able to sell this to 250 people and it works, we'll be able to charge almost whatever we want next time, end quote. Unfortunately for his subscribers, the tip didn't pan out. No. I know. What? It's crazy. Not a real tip. Many people. Real quick, if you, hear me out. Just hear me out in case this scheme ever comes toward you. If this person had insider information and they're charging you a certain amount of money to give you that information, clearly they're trying person with that inside information, instead of disseminating

that news, why wouldn't you just invest in the stock yourself and make two or three times what you would make in an email subscription? That's just a question you should ask yourself. I'm sure Jay McDaniel was also investing in the stock, but he wanted to invite his exclusive friends to join. But I'm going to charge you for it. 800,000 of his exclusive friends to to join in on this amazing opportunity it sounds too good to be true it usually is guys come on but you

have to understand also at this time it's like the internet is still kind of new and I mean this is the time when Nigerian print schemes are also running rampant, remember? People really just didn't realize. It's like the internet now in 2025, we're so jaded that I don't even click on a link if I get it from somebody I don't recognize. I don't care. I don't even open an email if it's coming from somebody that I don't recognize because we trust no one. We're all jaded.

We're all hardened. But back then, it was kind of the Wild West where people were like, oh, this is great. I'm having this great opportunity over the World Wide Web. It was pretty normal for people to fall for these things. Once again, I call back to Wolf of Wall Street. These guys calling all random people, cold calling, fast talking, like, oh, yeah, I'm going to promise you this. I'm going to promise you. People fell for it. They did, unfortunately and sadly. Yeah, it happens all the time. All throughout the country, you have people who have a small savings. They're trying

to do right by their families. And they get this opportunity where they think, wow, this could be a quicker way to reach my financial goals. And they're naive to the fact because they're not educated in this area. And these scumbags take advantage of them. That's the thing about Wolf of Wall Street. And we're talking so much about this tonight. I think it's applicable to cover it a little bit because Wolf of Wall Street's one of my favorite movies. I think that's the case for a lot of people, right? But the problem is Jordan Belfort put a lot of people into poverty. He really broke a lot of people. Like I don't sit here and celebrate Jordan Belfort. I know some people like, oh,

he's a stud. He's written books since and all that. I don't care for him. Don't want to watch him. He may see this. He may hear about this. I don't care. Um, the movie is funny, but only when I think it's great. Yeah. Yeah. But when you realize that it was actually happening, like you, I always go back to that phone call where he's initially coming up and whoever hasn't seen this movie that won't make sense, but there's someone on the other end and he's trying to sell them this dream and getting them to invest the money from their mortgage into this. And the theme of the movie is,

wow, look how much money Jordan's making. But the reality is that guy on the other end lost his house. And so that's the problem here. And it's not just a movie. It's actually happening every day. It happens all the time. Even now. Yes.

Just much more. They've learned the traits, right? They can hide it even better. But it's still occurring. If you really look for it, it's there. And they target older people more now, too. Yeah. Who aren't as familiar with these schemes because they're not as tapped into the internet.

They're not as tapped into what's kind of going around and what kind of scams are happening to watch out for. Yeah. When I won Big Brother,, it's a funny joke. I just said what I won big brother this weekend or last weekend, Shannon and Stephanie and our friend Joe, they were like, take a drink every time Derek says he won big brother. And now I feel self-conscious every time I say it. But yes, when I, when I won big brother, I had a lot of people reaching out to me with these get quick, rich schemes that were that there were foolproof plans. Invest in this little house over here or invest in this building or give me $5,000. I'm going to turn it into 20. Just be careful out there. I mean, I know we're talking about Ray Rivera. That's what this is about. But this is an important

conversation to have, not only for the context of this case, but the reality that, look at the dates you're saying, 2004. I mean, this isn't 20, 30 years ago. So just be aware. Just be aware that, again, that simple saying, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. It kind of is 20 years ago. It is technically 20 years ago. That's true. It feels weird, but- It doesn't feel like 2004 was 20 years ago, does it? I know, I know. It doesn't, but it was. Oh my God, we're so old.

I know. We're so old. Well, it's still happening today. Yes, it is. It is. They're just smarter and more honestly covert about it. And it's usually, yeah, it's through online. Yeah, there's different measures that are taken,

but we used to get complaints for this all the time locally. And the problem is they're a victim in my city where it occurred, but the offender's not even in the country sometimes. And there's not much we can do. And it was always disheartening for me to come back and tell them that, like, hey, we'll take the report, but they're using so many VPNs and different techniques. The ability to track them, we just, we don't have that capability. Even if we did. It's out of control. You can't charge them. No. So yeah, it's a problem. It's out of control. So this email that Porter Stansbury sent out as

Jay McDaniel, it went out on May 14th, 2002. The heading said, double your money on May 22nd on this super insider tip. And the email claimed that analysts at pirateinvestor.com had come into possession of certain details about the pending approval of a major international company that will, quote, create more than $2.5 billion in profits for one small company, end quote. And the email identified the issuer as a company that was involved in the nuclear energy field and would both benefit from the arms reduction treaty between the U.S. and Russia that was kind of happening on a global scale at that point. And Stansberry's email said that investors would make a fortune because PirateInvestor.com had a senior executive inside the company as a source for its inside information. And they said that this executive was definitely in a position to know the intimate details of this agreement and when it would be approved. Therefore, the email announced that PirateInvestor.com was in a position to tell you exactly when the deal will be finalized and announced to the public. And so now the email encouraged

recipients to stake their entire investment portfolios on this unnamed company and suggested investors would be able to double their investment dollar in a single day. Once again, like Derek said, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But you also have to remember that around this time, like people are investing in Apple and Microsoft and things like that and making huge fortunes when these companies blew up. So it's not like this never happens. It's just that it's not going to be this easy. Like you kind of have to be lucky to get in on the ground floor of one of these companies

and invest and then end up becoming an overnight millionaire or even billionaire because you happen to pick the right horse. It's not like somebody is going to send you and 800,000 other people an email and be like, got this super insider tip that I'm giving to almost a million people. So yeah, just not great business practices at all, to say the least. Yeah. Unfortunately, usually the only way to really do well financially is you got to invest smart and you got to invest slowly. And it's usually a long process. You're not going to be a multimillionaire overnight. And if someone's presenting that to you- It happens. It's the exception, not the rule.

Yeah. It's not as common as we would like to think. So for Pirate Investor subscribers, the tip did not pan out. Many investors lost significant sums of money. Complaints flooded the SEC, which then launched an investigation. And in 2003, they filed a lawsuit against Porter and Pirate Investor LLC for securities fraud. This was the company that Porter claimed to have built at his kitchen table with nothing but determination and a borrowed laptop. Who did he borrow the laptop from? Was it Jay McDaniel? Does Jay McDaniel exist? I don't know. But like, yeah, it doesn't take a lot to type out an email lying to people and get them to pay you money for something that doesn't exist.

Not that I'm saying he didn't work hard at and in any venue of his life, but damn, this is really dirty. It's really bad. I don't like it. Yeah. And to back to the story, I'm think that these type of efforts were ongoing and clearly they were aware of not only what they were doing, but how it would ultimately affect the people on the other end. Yeah, they weren't killing them physically, but definitely killing them financially. this, you do have to ask yourself the question, how far would they be willing to go to protect what they have and to prevent someone from taking away what they quote unquote have earned? That's the question here. My question is, how do you think you can do this to people and not get caught or get in trouble or have repercussions? Like on this large of a scale, did you think no one was going to complain? Did you think

nobody was going to feel defrauded? Did you think nobody was going to be pissed off? They feel like they put so many barriers in place and maybe disclaimers where it's like, hey, I had this tip. It didn't pan out. I can't guarantee it. I thought it was good. I lost money too. But yeah, no, I can't give you a thousand bucks back. Yeah, and we have entities in the United States, the SEC, which is the Securities and Exchange Commission, that is an independent government agency that's whole job is to regulate the securities industry in the US.

It's to protect investors, to promote fair and efficient markets, to make sure that people aren't becoming prey to bad guys who would do something like this. So why would you think that you could do it and nobody was going to bat an eye and you were just going to run away with over a million dollars? Free and clear. No problems, no issues, no accountability. I mean, look at Bernie Madoff. He thought he was going to get away with it. He got in trouble. They all do. I mean, they all usually get caught he he thought he was gonna get away with it they all do I mean they

all usually get caught they do until they don't I think it's just a matter of time at that point but it is it is that's what happened you can go years without getting caught but you are going to get caught the more people you screw over yep the more chance you have of getting caught and some of these guys would be smart to just do a couple schemes caught and run leave the country but they get cocky and they're like ah this was easy let me keep going not to make do a couple schemes, cut and run, leave the country. But they get cocky and they're like, ah, this was easy. Let me keep going. Not to make this a Wolf of Wall Street promotion,

but that's what happened there. He had the opportunity to get out, walk away with a lot of money. But why'd he stay? Pride and greed. It's never enough. It's never enough. He had the horses, he had everything he wanted

and he kept going. So much. And the FBI said, thank you very much. And that was it. That's never enough. He had the horses, he had everything he wanted and he kept going. So much. And he, and the FBI said, thank you very much. And that was it. That's how they got him. I love that scene on the yacht when the FBI agent comes out. The fun coupons. It's such a good movie. Can we just say as a quick aside, how absolutely gorgeous Margot Robbie was in the Wolf of Wall Street? I thought you were going to say Leo because I thought Leo was, you know.

Whatever. Leo was looking you know. Whatever. Leo was looking good in it too. Margot Robbie, stunning. Oh my God. Like, I just, I can't stand it. But anyways, all right. So. Now imagine if I was the one saying that.

You can say that Margot Robbie is stunning. She's stunning. She looked very nice in the movie. She's amazing. She looked very nice. She's beautiful. She's, oh my God, I love her. Okay.

So 2003, SEC files a lawsuit against Porter and Pirate Investor. Now what happens in 2004? Well, Porter is talking to Ray Rivera, come work for my company. That's like under investigation by the SEC. But this was the venture, Pirate Investor LLC was the venture that started Porter onto his financial success and his wealth. And in 2004, Porter extended an offer to Ray Rivera asking him to join his team as a writer for one of his financial newsletters. Now, of course, is Porter going to be like, hey, the SEC is suing me? No. No, he's not going to tell him that stuff.

For the record, officially, I don't know if he did or not, but. I mean, he could have. I would assume he could have said, yeah, this is going on. It's all bullshit. Yeah, definitely. So this also seemed to be something that Porter Stansbury liked to do. He liked to bring his old friends who didn't really have experience in the world of finance to work for his company.

And he says it's because he liked to bring in high quality and high character people. But without the experience or knowledge in the arena that these people would be working in, character seems to be less important than, you know, actual skill or know-how. We think the best way to make money, call us old fashioned, we think the best way to make money is by doing the right things for our customers and by always trying to hire the highest quality people we can in terms of character. You know, that's just what we've done. We've hired lots of people that didn't have any real experience, but they had great character. They're the kind of people that you'd want to have as your friends and your

neighbors. And a couple of tests that I like to use about that is, if you were stuck in an airport for five hours with this person, would you be happy about that? Or would you be miserable about that? And don't hire anybody you don't want to get stuck in an airport for five hours with. And if you just make decisions like that, my belief is that things will go well for your business. Now, here's my take on this. And I'm just going to make a hypothetical situation. Let's say somebody owned a business dealing with financial newsletters and they were hiring a bunch of people who didn't have any experience in this arena.

And you can say, never hire somebody you don't want to be stuck in an airport with for five hours. That's your criteria for hiring people, which is weird. That shouldn't be your only criteria. Because in my opinion, if somebody's doing this hypothetically, it's because they're doing shady things. And somebody with financial know-how or who knew this business would pick up on those shady things.

But your old high school friends or people who don't have opportunities like this, you're bringing them into an opportunity, you're paying them, you're giving them a chance to be part of something bigger than themselves. They don't know enough to know when something's shady. So obviously they're not gonna raise the red flag or sound the alarm.

If they see something shady happening, they're just gonna be grateful for the opportunity. Once again, I bring that back to Wolf of Wall Street because that's exactly what Jordan Belfort did, right? He met this, who's Jonah Hill's character? He meets him in like a coffee shop and he's like, hey, work for me. Guy knew nothing about what he's doing. So now Jordan Belfort can take a blank slate and teach this person the way that things are done. But it's not the way things are done ethically or legally and morally. It's the way that Jordan Belfort does things. And this person doesn't know enough about the actual business to know that it's wrong. And by the time they do figure out it's wrong in the case of-

They're pot committed at that point. They're committed, their fingerprints are all over it, and they're raking in the money. So who are they to look a gift horse in the mouth, right? They're part over it and they're raking in the money. So who are they to look a gift horse in the mouth, right? They're part of it. And it happens over time, right? It's not an overnight thing. You slowly fall into that hole and you see the benefits of doing it and they own you. Yes.

And you're complicit. You're complicit. For Ray Rivera, great athlete, amazingly creative person, right? Music, writing, all of that. He didn't know shit about money or finances, nothing, right? So he's getting this offer and he's thinking, well, it's my old buddy. That's why I'm getting this opportunity. He wants to help me. He's not thinking like, oh, I'm a patsy or, oh, I'm just somebody that doesn't know anything about this. So Porter can allegedly, reportedly maybe get away with stuff and I won't know.

It did seem like perfect timing for Ray when he got this offer from Porter. He and his fiancee, Allison, had recently gotten engaged. They were dreaming of buying a home, starting a family, building their future together. And this opportunity promised financial stability and potential success, which is something that Ray, as wanting to be a family man, wanting to be a good husband, support his wife and their future children, he could not pass that up. Heart in the right place, but under the wrong terms. Trusting, naive, yeah. So let's take our last break and we'll be right back.

All right. So initially, Ray starts working for Porter Stansberry and Porter said, I only need you for a short-term project. You'll only have to stay in Baltimore for about 30 days, right? And since the job was temporary, both Ray and Allison felt there was no need for Allison to uproot her own career and her own life, so Ray moved out to Baltimore alone, and he stayed at the Peabody Hotel, located about a mile north of Agora's headquarters in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. Agora's headquarters were an eclectic collection of restored historic buildings,

purchased and refurbished by its founder, William Botner. Now, at the time, the company operated out of four main locations, the former Marburg Mansion at 14 West Mount Vernon Place, the former Christian Science Building at 702 Cathedral Street, the former headquarters of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland at 105 West Monument Street, and the Grand Lodge of the Order of the Sons of Italy at 808 St. Paul Street. While Agour's main offices were housed at the latter address, the other buildings accommodated many of its 60 subsidiaries. While Ray had zero background in finance, the opportunity promised stability at a time when

he and Allison were planning their wedding and future. However, despite the financial security the job provided, Ray found the work unfulfilling. Writing about finance felt disconnected from his creative passions and values. Ray had little knowledge of money management, stocks, or bonds. In fact, he was famously bad with finances. According to Allison, for most of his life, Ray relied on cash exclusively, ensuring that he never spent more than he had. Recently, however, he had gotten his first credit card, which had given him a new sense of financial freedom.

Unfortunately, this also led him to spend more than he typically would. When Porter offered him the job, Ray saw it as a short-term opportunity to earn some extra money, a quick influx of cash that could help pay for the dream wedding he envisioned with the love of his life. But what initially presented as a 30-day project quickly evolved into something more demanding, stretching into 90 days. Despite the extended workload, Ray made an effort to maintain his relationship with Allison and see her often. He flew back to Los Angeles at least once a month, and she visited him in Baltimore whenever her schedule allowed. Now, Allison's job frequently required her to

travel across the country, which made their time apart even more challenging. For a newly engaged couple, the separation was difficult to endure, but they both tried to make it work, holding on to their shared dreams for the future. But Ray was not happy in Baltimore. For someone as outgoing as he was, adjusting to life in this new city proved harder than expected. While he was familiar with many of his colleagues at the Oxford Club and Agora, some of whom he had attended high school with, you know, with him and Porter both, he found that they all had little in common beyond shared history. And I find that this is very common when you know people from high school and then you kind of meet up with them. Oh, yeah. 10, 15 years later, it's like,

you know, we were so close back then, but so depressing. Yeah. It's like I don't have anything in common with you now. And I still care about you based on the nostalgia of what we once shared. But we we are not the same people now. What do we talk about? Life comes at you fast. So Ray and Allison were deeply family oriented and politically they leaned left where Ray's new coworkers seemed very, very focused on wealth and status. And this was not something that Ray was interested in. Yes, he wanted to be on more solid financial footing. Financial security.

But he was not in Baltimore to get rich. Right. And definitely not to get rich quick. He simply wanted to make enough money to give Allison a comfortable life and plan the wedding that she'd always dreamed of when she was a little girl. Despite these challenges, though, Ray did manage to make some meaningful connections. Once he flew out to visit Allison in L.A. and on the flight back to Baltimore, he struck up a conversation with the woman who was seated next to him on the plane. Her name was Cynthia. They quickly discovered shared interests, including a love for travel and the fact that they'd lived in the same cities at different times.

Their friendship blossomed, and Cynthia became Ray's closest friend in Baltimore, even thinking of him as a brother. When Allison would visit, Ray introduced her to Cynthia at Cynthia's home in Ellicott City, just 10 miles outside of Baltimore. Now, coincidentally, Allison's aunt also lived in Ellicott City, which allowed them to visit her as well during the same trip.

But as the weeks turned into months, Allison grew restless. She worried about how long Ray would remain in Baltimore. She could see that he wasn't truly happy there. While he loved writing, financial topics like money and business didn't inspire him. And also, just in general, the city was not Ray's cup of tea. He was somebody who thrived in sunny, warm climates. He liked to be near the water. All of these things Baltimore lacked. There's water in Baltimore? What are we talking about?

What kind of water? You can just go over. You just go a little bit further. You got Robin Pope. You get the Chesapeake Bay right there. Come on. Come on, right? I don't know if that's kind of water.

I'm definitely being sarcastic. I mean, he's used to California. He's used to Puerto Rico. Yeah, it's a little different. A little different. Chesapeake Bay is not. You know, listen. Not on par.

It's all we got over here on the East Coast. Go easy on us. Oh, we have some water on the East Coast. Just Baltimore, Maryland is not the place I'd go if you really love being by the water. And I will say Annapolis, that area, it's pretty. It's very pretty. But yeah, no, it's not California. It's not Puerto Rico.

It is. But I would compare Baltimore to more of like a Chicago, a New York City, a Philadelphia. You know, these are very like high rises. People aren't swimming in the Hudson. It's dark. It's cold. I mean, right now I'm in New York. And honestly, it's just the most depressing.

I walked out today and my car had at least, I'm not being, I took a video, at least five feet of snow just on the top of it and on my hood. I'm not even exaggerating. Did a cloud just open up over your car and just dump snow on it? I don't know what happened last night, but I couldn't even use my snow brush. I had to get a broom don't know what happened last night, but I couldn't even use my snow brush. I had to get a broom. I know what happened. Your neighbor who doesn't like you said,

you know what? F this so-and-so and piled it all on top of your car. No, it was perfectly snow falling. They took their time. And I said to myself, because usually I just be getting in my car, warming it up for a couple minutes, go, the snow will blow off.

You're that person? I am absolutely that person. I'm so sorry. You're walking around with three feet of snow on the top of your hood that hits my windshield? Yeah, I know. I feel terrible. It's actually illegal. I know, but my hands are cold already. They get even colder when I'm out there brushing snow. It's a legitimate medical concern. It's a legitimate medical concern, man. So today I got in the car, I warmed it up. I started driving down my my driveway which is pretty

long and I was like yeah this is not gonna work I had to take a broom I had to brush it off like the east coast mainly like six seven eight months out of the year it's just horrific we feel you right we we get it we get yeah we we feel you so Ray is living at the Peabody Hotel he's there for three months maintaining a long distance relationshipistance relationship with his fiancée, and then an opportunity arose that could change his circumstances. So Porter, who was impressed by Ray's work on their initial project together, he offered him a chance to create and manage his own financial newsletter. This new venture would be called The Rebound Report, a name inspired by Ray's love of basketball. The newsletter would focus on struggling companies that were poised to make a comeback,

and it would encourage subscribers to invest while stock prices were low in anticipation of big returns in the future. Now, Ray discussed this offer with Allison, and while they agreed it was a smart financial move, they also knew they just could not keep living apart. Together, they decided to relocate to Baltimore for what they hoped would be a short temporary chapter in their lives. They made a pact. They would spend 24 months in Baltimore, work hard, save as much money as possible, and then return to the West Coast to start their lives together. Now, at that time, Allison worked for a company called Sexy Hair Concepts. They supplied hair products to salons nationwide, and her position allowed her to work remotely as long as she was able and willing to travel when they needed her to.

So with that flexibility, Allison packed up their belongings in California. She boarded a plane to Baltimore, believing this was a brief detour in their journey towards a brighter future. But what was meant to be a temporary chapter took a tragic and unforeseen turn, forever altering their plans. And Ray would never return to California and the sun and the water with his fiancée, Allison. It was not to be, not in the cards for him, I guess. Yeah, that was a lot of exposition, right? We have to really set up the story because when we get into the crime next episode, it won't make a lot of sense for most people, including myself, if we didn't have this backstory, the context, and to understand

the players on this chessboard, right? Who's in the game? And so when you start putting out some of the theories out there without knowing everything we now know, a lot of it probably wouldn't have made sense. No, I wouldn't know. So you just, this is the foundation. This is the foundation. You have to know it. And just like in any real investigation, you got to know all the people that are involved with it. Make sure you have the background on them. It's not only about the victim. It's about everybody knowing their motives, their agendas, how they fit into this puzzle. And overall, the theme of the first episode is you got this good person trying to do the right thing, understanding that although their passion or their, their drive, their incentive in life, isn't money.

I'm still knowing that unfortunately that's what makes the world go around. And even though he's out there for his fiance trying to build a better life, sometimes you can get tied up in some bad things, even if you're not directly connected to him. And I'm going to be interested to know more about next episode. all this the final phone call that ray received before he rushed out of the house and ended up dead was from stansberry research offices so these are this is why these things are very important because they they do come back they do tie back together and i'm not saying porter stansberry was involved i would never but i'm saying to understand the full context of this and to understand, especially when we talk about Ray's final days, final hours, these things all do tie together. Yeah. Well, don't give us any hints here for anybody who doesn't know the case,

but I'm going to be interested to hear just from trying to be objective about this. Obviously, we've done a lot about the backstory here and, and it's not a, it doesn't take a detective to figure out one of the theories are going to be that Ray overheard something or was involved in something where these guys said, Hey, we got to shut them up. Right. That's going to be one of the theories shocker, but there are going to be some other theories that we're gonna have to discuss because you talked very briefly in the teaser about how he, the manner of death. And we have to also discuss what was going on in Ray's

life. Was he having any struggles? Was there anything that would have indicated that maybe he could have harmed himself? Again, tough conversations to have, but necessary when you're really trying to get to the truth. I talk about this all the time because sometimes these conversations are tough to have because it may be the truth, even though that's not what a lot of people want to believe. So we're going to discuss it all. We'll break it down. We'll go over each possible theory. What are you thinking for this series? Two, three, what's, how long do you see this series playing? It's far too soon to ask me that right now. Can't even do it. Can't even, you just don't do it, Derek. Okay. So we're going to go through it.

We'll take as much time as we need. We'll break down every theory. And I really do hope that by the end of it, maybe we have a mutual opinion that where we feel this one could be, or maybe we won't. But overall, we'll know the case of Ray Rivera and we'll all be better informed about it. Absolutely.

So until next time, be safe out there. There we go. Stay safe out there. Yes. Stay safe out there. Yes. Stay safe out there. We'll see you guys soon. Have a good night. Bye.