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

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.comBecome a Patreon member -- > ｿ https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeeklyShop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> ｿ https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shopYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcastWebsite: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.comInstagram: @CrimeWeeklyPodTwitter: @CrimeWeeklyPodFacebook: @CrimeWeeklyPodADS: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!

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:42Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 1:27Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 2:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Crime Weekly. I'm Stephanie Harlow.

• 2:25Derrick Levasseur?

  And I'm Derrick Levasseur.

• 2:26Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 Rey 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 Rey Rivera case a few times over, you know, 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 Rey Rivera's case and call back to it.

• 3:09Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 3:16Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, no, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. Just based on the teaser, I really, I wanted to, I've heard of Rey Rivera before. Haven't gone into the specifics of it. I said 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, 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.

• 4:01Derrick Levasseur?

  And I know a lot of people have been requesting that we cover this one.

• 4:04Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, and actually, that, 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, you know, the past few years, learning about the city that this took place in, which is Baltimore, Maryland. And at the time of Rey'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 Rey 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.

• 4:48Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 into 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.

• 5:26Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 5:40Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's cute.

• 5:41Derrick Levasseur?

  So go check it out. If you guys are interested, go to CriminalCoffeeCo.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 get in your hands. 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.

• 6:25Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 Riveras, 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.

• 7:09Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 7:54Stephanie Harlowe?

  From a young age, Rey 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.

• 8:29Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, and a little side note, which is probably not surprising with some of my Derekisms that you guys correct me on. For most of my adult life, I thought it was play by ear. You know, play by ear, yeah. It's play by ear.

• 8:39Stephanie Harlowe?

  So not play by ear?

• 8:40Derrick Levasseur?

  Makes a lot more sense.

• 8:41Stephanie Harlowe?

  Not play by ear, you thought they were saying play by air?

• 8:43Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, air, yeah. So I would always be like, yeah, let's play 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.

• 8:55Stephanie Harlowe?

  I love that for you.

• 8:56Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, so.

• 8:56Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 9:13Derrick Levasseur?

  Hmm, yeah, well, we learned. But see, you were, you were a kid. I was in my twenties.

• 9:18Stephanie Harlowe?

  I kept thinking this until I was in my twenties.

• 9:20Derrick Levasseur?

  Okay, so I feel better.

• 9:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, you should. You should. We're both, we're both not very smart. So also on a visit to Puerto Rico, because, you know, his family was from Puerto Rico, so they'd go back and visit every now and then. Ray discovered an instrument called the quattro. 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

• 10:02Stephanie Harlowe?

  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

• 10:46Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 11:30Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 12:12Stephanie Harlowe?

  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. Obviously, his family's from Puerto Rico, he goes to Puerto Rico a lot, his family's 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.

• 12:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 probably, you played sports throughout

• 13:36Stephanie Harlowe?

  high school and college, and you got a scholarship to play baseball, didn't you?

• 13:40Derrick Levasseur?

  Yep, that's right. Not good enough to play in the pros, though.

• 13:43Stephanie Harlowe?

  Were you hoping to go pro, though? Isn't that every-

• 13:45Derrick Levasseur?

  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, uh, 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.

• 14:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  Let's pivot.

• 14:15Derrick Levasseur?

  Let's, let's make a, yeah, let's make a career change here. And, uh, that summer, I took the police, police test.

• 14:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, and I mean, that's, that's pretty much where Ray was at, right? Huge blow, big time disappointment. Like, those who knew him said, you know, it, it knocked the air out of him for quite a while.

• 14:31Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 14:45Stephanie Harlowe?

  And I feel like there's, there's these pivotal moments in our lives where, you know, for, for a very long time, we see our future being one way, and then something happens, which kind of overnight-

• 14:55Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah.

• 14:56Stephanie Harlowe?

  wipes that possibility off the map. And then-

• 14:59Derrick Levasseur?

  Your entire life. As a child, you go, you grow up, and you have this dream, and in one weekend or, or a month, you realize, this thing that I've been kind of working towards my entire life, it's not happening.

• 15:12Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's just not there anymore. Yeah.

• 15:14Derrick Levasseur?

  So it leaves you with a question of purpose. Like, what, what, what have, what did I do? Did I waste my time? Um, did I make a mistake? It may, I'm sure there's a lot that goes through that.

• 15:23Stephanie Harlowe?

  Probably also makes you probably question yourself and like how good you were, your worth, you know?

• 15:29Derrick Levasseur?

  Could I have done something more?

• 15:30Stephanie Harlowe?

  Could I have done something different?

• 15:31Derrick Levasseur?

  For me, it was definitely a little easier because it was just like a logical thing. For example, you got to throw in the 90s to be a professional pitcher. I didn't, you know, 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.

• 15:51Stephanie Harlowe?

  Well, I don't think it was that. I think he was talented enough to do it, but you're talking about the Olympics, so.

• 15:57Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, it's different, it's next level.

• 15:59Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's not even that. I think he could have done it, but apparently it was his maybe push against authority, maybe his attitude.

• 16:07Derrick Levasseur?

  Right, decisions.

• 16:08Stephanie Harlowe?

  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, 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.

• 16:40Derrick Levasseur?

  And that, 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, 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, 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, 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.

• 17:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  Well, I forget who said this, but there's a quote I like where it says, "I never lose, I only learn." And it appears that.

• 17:24Derrick Levasseur?

  That's a great quote, actually.

• 17:25Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, it's kind of like even when the worst things happen to you, like what can you learn from that? And it, 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, 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.

• 18:07Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 Burrows 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

• 18:50Stephanie Harlowe?

  in the halls of John Burrows. But the students admired him, not just for his energy and passion and 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

• 19:33Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 20:16Stephanie Harlowe?

  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

• 20:58Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 21:41Stephanie Harlowe?

  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. Like, he never really stood out. He was just like kinda okay. Academically, in sports, in life, he's just middle of the road. And 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.

• 22:24Stephanie Harlowe?

  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, 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, not just his last name, his entire name?

• 23:03Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, I don't know. I, 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 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 didn't, I don't associate it with my, my biological father. But I, things happen for different reasons. I, you know, not going to judge. It's not the first time I've heard that happening, I guess.

• 23:43Stephanie Harlowe?

  That's just the last name, the whole name.

• 23:45Derrick Levasseur?

  I know, I know. Yeah, that's, that's a lot. Like, hey, I didn't, I didn't, you know, 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.

• 23:59Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, I don't know, like.

• 24:01Derrick Levasseur?

  I don't like to judge because I know that this is probably not the first time this has happened.

• 24:05Stephanie Harlowe?

  I don't know how old Porter was when his adopted father came into his life.

• 24:10Derrick Levasseur?

  Right.

• 24:11Stephanie Harlowe?

  But he was definitely old enough to have already

• 24:14Speaker 03

  Established his name?

• 24:15Stephanie Harlowe?

  And probably had a few years, if not, you know, 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.

• 25:00Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 bad neighborhoods, armed only with his intelligence and a borrowed laptop.

• 25:13Speaker 03

  From where I sit, I would tell you that most of the success we've had, quite honestly, has just sort of been accidental in a way. And I don't, I'm not trying to be falsely modest. But if you had told me 15 years ago that the business that I started on a laptop, a borrowed laptop computer in my kitchen table, while I was living in a third floor walk up apartment in Baltimore's most notorious slum, would end up being a, you know, a hundred and fifty million dollar 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, I want to give some kudos and some inspiration to folks

• 25:57Speaker 03

  who are starting out with very small efforts. You know, what's the Chinese saying about every, you know, every great journey starts with a single step? And if you, if you have taken it upon yourself to To begin your own business efforts, I wanna, I wanna pat you on the back and give you some applause and tell you that it's, it'll, it can be by far the most rewarding thing you've ever done in your life.

• 26:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  So that's Porter Stansberry talking about, you know, how, 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."

• 26:56Derrick Levasseur?

  That's a great one.

• 26:57Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's a really great quote. And I think about it all the time when, you know, 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.

• 27:11Derrick Levasseur?

  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, but you, 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? But uh,

• 27:55Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, but that's temporary. It's a temporary state. It doesn't, you don't spiral down into it. And yeah, I think that any adversity, it makes you stronger, you know?

• 28:04Derrick Levasseur?

  Absolutely.

• 28:05Stephanie Harlowe?

  And, 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 okay, so we're gonna kind of go a little bit away from Ray. We're gonna talk about Porter Stansberry, what he did after college, um, 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.

• 28:45Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah.

• 28:45Stephanie Harlowe?

  And also his connections and all of these, 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 Rey 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.

• 29:16Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, I, I figured, I figured as much when you going on this parallel story about this gentleman, uh, 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?

• 29:30Stephanie Harlowe?

  Correct.

• 29:30Derrick Levasseur?

  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, uh, has not been charged with a crime. Uh, and apparently he's still doing very well because in 2015, what'd he say? A hundred and 50 million, uh, in revenue, gross revenue for one year. So he's still, he's still doing well, just putting that out there. But no, I'm looking forward to see the, the connections and see why people think that this, this individual may be connected to this in some way. And I'm sure this is probably not the first time this theory's been brought up.

• 30:00Stephanie Harlowe?

  No, not at all, not at all. Uh, yeah, legally to cover us, I, I have sprinkled in some disclaimers throughout, so.

• 30:07Derrick Levasseur?

  Great, great.

• 30:08Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, I got you.

• 30:09Derrick Levasseur?

  I appreciate you, you know me, I start sweating.

• 30:11Stephanie Harlowe?

  I know you do.

• 30:13Derrick Levasseur?

  You start saying, you know.

• 30:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  Whenever we talk about conspiracies, Derek's like legally, legally, we're not saying anything.

• 30:18Derrick Levasseur?

  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 gonna say? What's she?

• 30:28Stephanie Harlowe?

  So you mean there's never been a better time to talk about this?

• 30:31Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 30:38Stephanie Harlowe?

  True.

• 30:39Derrick Levasseur?

  So, so we don't want to have to go there. But yes, I do start sweating under my hat. I, 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.

• 30:51Stephanie Harlowe?

  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, 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 Segurio.

• 31:33Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 DC. 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,

• 32:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  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, like, 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, that's kind of the business model we're, we're talking about here.

• 32:56Stephanie Harlowe?

  All right, so let's take a quick break and we'll come back and we'll talk about William Bonner and Agora Inc.

• 33:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 33:48Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 34:00Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, I mean, listen, I, 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.

• 34:25Stephanie Harlowe?

  I mean, The main, uh, main belief of libertarians is that

• 34:29Derrick Levasseur?

  We should not be taxed.

• 34:30Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, taxation is theft.

• 34:31Derrick Levasseur?

  I, listen, if that's what it means, then I'm, I'm on for, 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, but we'll go on a rant about that stuff, but no.

• 34:45Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's just a, a huge, um, tenet 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. Um, this would create more jobs, higher pay, lower prices. Choose your own lifestyle, right? The government shouldn't, uh, have a say in, in the kind of life you lead. Like whatever you do in the privacy of your own home, et cetera. That's, 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.

• 35:28Stephanie Harlowe?

  Uh, these are the, 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, he's got money, right?

• 36:03Derrick Levasseur?

  He's doing okay.

• 36:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  Mm-hmm.

• 36:03Derrick Levasseur?

  He's doing all right. My chateau isn't, isn't finished yet.

• 36:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  Your, is your chateau in, in France?

• 36:09Derrick Levasseur?

  No, it's in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

• 36:11Stephanie Harlowe?

  (laughing).

• 36:13Derrick Levasseur?

  And only people from Pawtucket will be like, okay, we get the joke.

• 36:17Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 twenties and their younger years, where they kind of considered themselves mavericks.

• 36:59Stephanie Harlowe?

  Maybe they thought they they knew it all, had had more to offer than than their elders were giving them credit for, and so they pushed back at a problem with authority.

• 37:09Derrick Levasseur?

  I think this is such a common trend.

• 37:11Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, I agree.

• 37:12Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 37:54Derrick Levasseur?

  Usually, again, like six months to a year in, is the person going to be a good employee? Or they're 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. 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.

• 38:16Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, and I mean, as he's talking now in in the future, right? He's looking at this in hindsight. Now he's got his own company. He hires his own employees.

• 38:24Derrick Levasseur?

  He gets it.

• 38:25Stephanie Harlowe?

  He's probably, I can see why I was annoying.

• 38:27Derrick Levasseur?

  Oh, yeah. Well, why are we doing it this way? But but why? It's it does. It can get annoying.

• 38:32Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 Nadel 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

• 39:17Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 39:24Derrick Levasseur?

  Mm hmm. I wish I had a British accent.

• 39:27Stephanie Harlowe?

  You can. You can have a British accent right now.

• 39:30Derrick Levasseur?

  That was not a good British accent.

• 39:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  I know. It was like really like it was kind of like off the cuff. I don't know.

• 39:35Derrick Levasseur?

  I don't know.

• 39:36Stephanie Harlowe?

  What do you want? You want like a posh British accent? You want more like a cockney?

• 39:39Derrick Levasseur?

  You almost have to give another one now to redeem yourself. That was bad.

• 39:42Stephanie Harlowe?

  OK, well, one particularly bold tactic involved sending out cassette tapes narrated by a man with a British accent.

• 39:49Derrick Levasseur?

  That was better.

• 39:50Stephanie Harlowe?

  It was a little better. I need some practice.

• 39:52Derrick Levasseur?

  You should do the whole episode or the rest of the episode in that. No, I'm just kidding.

• 39:55Stephanie Harlowe?

  They would hate me.

• 39:56Derrick Levasseur?

  Yes.

• 39:57Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 of. 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

• 40:42Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 Goldcore collapsed, leaving approximately 3,000 investors with $50 million in losses.

• 41:24Stephanie Harlowe?

  Legal proceedings returned only a fraction of these stolen funds. Now, following these scandals, the Royal Society of Lichtenstein 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.

• 42:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  So remember, Joe Nadell and Mark Ford do this whole Royal Lichtenstein Society thing out of Boca Raton, Florida. This is bringing to me

• 42:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  images of the Wolf of Wall Street, right?

• 42:16Derrick Levasseur?

  Similar, yeah. Penny stocks being so, yeah, I mean, they're selling, 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 this 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 Rey 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 Rey Rivera. Is that, am I fair in saying, is that correct?

• 42:55Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yes, there's all purpose for it. Like I said, 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 gonna kind of lead up right to the place where Porter then invites Ray into the fold.

• 43:10Derrick Levasseur?

  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 Rey 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. So I'm sure if you're listening in a car or watching on YouTube or kind of cleaning the house, you gotta kind of follow everything because this is the reason why people believe there may be something more to raise death.

• 43:50Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 44:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  Exactly. That's what I was gonna say. So what is the main motive for killing people?

• 44:11Derrick Levasseur?

  Money. Money. That's it. And to hide and to get rid of anyone who could change that. Yes.

• 44:16Stephanie Harlowe?

  Now, when you have businesses like these and then you have organizations in the United States that are specifically meant to search out and destroy schemes and scams and things like these, you might want to avoid being detected because what you're gonna do is you're gonna be fined. And what your fines are gonna be are gonna be absolutely ridiculous, like millions and millions of dollars that if you get caught doing these things, you're gonna have to pay out because you're doing something that's, you know, 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,

• 44:58Stephanie Harlowe?

  who might think that somebody's life is worth less than the millions and millions of dollars that they have on the line.

• 45:04Derrick Levasseur?

  Right. Once you have that, you've established that lifestyle. Like we said, key word greed. It's amazing what people will do to protect that.

• 45:13Stephanie Harlowe?

  I agree. I comply. And we've seen it happen over and over and over again.

• 45:18Derrick Levasseur?

  And also with these higher organizations, right? Like the CEOs and COs 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.

• 45:29Stephanie Harlowe?

  Maybe, I don't know. Maybe they are, maybe they're not.

• 45:31Derrick Levasseur?

  Maybe they are, maybe they are, but in most cases, it's kind of like, what you don't know, don't hurt you. And basically, hey, whatever you gotta do to make this outcome happen, you do what you gotta do. But the less I know, the better. Therefore, I'm not culpable. I can have a 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.

• 45:56Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 Lichtenstein 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.

• 46:41Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 47:03Derrick Levasseur?

  You know, I'm so proud of you.

• 47:04Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 47:23Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 48:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 J. McDaniel. So Porter's sending an email to his subscribers, but he's not sending it as Frank Porter Stansbury. He's sending it as J. McDaniel's. 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's 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

• 48:51Stephanie Harlowe?

  existing subscription fees.

• 48:52Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, but I mean, for this information, $1,000 bucks, that's a drop in the bucket. You're going to make millions.

• 48:56Stephanie Harlowe?

  Sure, that's what the email said.

• 48:58Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 49:04Stephanie Harlowe?

  Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I mean, such a, such a great tip. You think that you'd want to keep it to yourself.

• 49:09Derrick Levasseur?

  Jesus, what a nice person. Never mind the fact that this was technically be insider trading, something going on if he had it in, you know, but that's...

• 49:15Stephanie Harlowe?

  If, if it was a real tip, right?

• 49:17Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, if it was a real tip, yeah.

• 49:19Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 49:52Derrick Levasseur?

  No.

• 49:53Stephanie Harlowe?

  I know. What? It's crazy. Not a real tip? Many people.

• 49:57Derrick Levasseur?

  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 to make money off of this, the intel that they have. Let me ask you this. If you're the 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.

• 50:30Stephanie Harlowe?

  I'm sure Jay McDaniel was also investing in the stock, but he wanted to, you know, invite his exclusive friends to join. Eight hundred thousand of his exclusive friends to join in on this amazing opportunity.

• 50:44Derrick Levasseur?

  If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is, guys. Come on.

• 50:47Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 prince 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. Like 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.

• 51:29Stephanie Harlowe?

  Like 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.

• 51:39Derrick Levasseur?

  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 to cover it a little bit. Because Wolf of Wall Street is 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 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.

• 52:24Derrick Levasseur?

  Um, the movie is funny, but only when I take it as a movie.

• 52:28Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 52:29Derrick Levasseur?

  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 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 and 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.

• 52:58Stephanie Harlowe?

  All the time.

• 52:59Derrick Levasseur?

  Even now.

• 53:00Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yes.

• 53:00Derrick Levasseur?

  Just much more, they've learned, 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.

• 53:07Stephanie Harlowe?

  And they and they target older people more now, too.

• 53:10Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah.

• 53:10Stephanie Harlowe?

  Who aren't as familiar with these schemes because they're not as tapped into the internet and they're not as tapped into like what what's kind of going around and

• 53:17Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah.

• 53:18Stephanie Harlowe?

  what kind of scams are happening to watch out for him.

• 53:21Derrick Levasseur?

  When I won Big Brother, it's a funny joke. I just said when 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, 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, there were foolproof plans. Invest in this little house over here, or invest in this building, or give, you know, me $5,000, I'm gonna turn it into 20. It, just be careful out there. I mean, I know we're talking about Rey Rivera, that's what this is about, but this is an important conversation to have, not only for the context of this case, but to the reality that, look at the dates you're saying, 2004. I mean, this isn't, you know, 20, 30 years ago.

• 54:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  Mm-hmm.

• 54:04Derrick Levasseur?

  So, just be aware, just be aware that, again, that simple saying, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

• 54:09Stephanie Harlowe?

  It kind of is 20 years ago.

• 54:11Derrick Levasseur?

  It is technically 20 years ago, that's true.

• 54:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  It feels weird, but...

• 54:16Derrick Levasseur?

  Dude, it doesn't feel like 2004 was 20 years ago, does it?

• 54:19Stephanie Harlowe?

  I know, it doesn't, but it was.

• 54:20Derrick Levasseur?

  Oh my god, we're so old.

• 54:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  I know.

• 54:22Derrick Levasseur?

  We're so old. Well, it's still happening today.

• 54:25Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yes, it is, it is. They're just smarter, and, and more honestly covert about it.

• 54:30Derrick Levasseur?

  And it's usually, yeah, it's through online, it's, 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 is not even in the country sometimes. And, 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.

• 54:57Stephanie Harlowe?

  No, it's out of control.

• 54:58Derrick Levasseur?

  You can't charge them. So, yeah, it's, it's a problem.

• 55:01Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's out of control. So, this email that Porter Stansberry sent out as Jay McDaniel, it went out on May 14th, 2002. The, um, heading said, "Double your money on May 22nd on this super insider tip." And, um, 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 US and Russia that was kind of, um, happening on a global scale at that point. And Stansberry's email said that in

• 55:44Stephanie Harlowe?

  Investors would make a fortune because Pirate Investor dot 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 Pirate Investor dot 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

• 56:29Stephanie Harlowe?

  and, 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, you know, an overnight millionaire or even billionaire because you, you happen to pick the right horse. It's not like somebody's going to send you an eighty, eight hundred other, eight hundred thousand other people an email and be like, hey, got this super, super insider tip that I'm giving to almost a million people. So yeah, just not, not great business practices at all, to say the least.

• 57:06Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, unfortunately, usually the only way to really do well and financially is to, you gotta, you gotta invest smart and you gotta invest slowly. And it's usually a long process. You're not going to be a multimillionaire overnight. And if, if someone's presenting that to you.

• 57:19Stephanie Harlowe?

  It happens. It's the exception, not the rule.

• 57:21Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, it's not, it's not as common as we would like to think.

• 57:25Stephanie Harlowe?

  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, to type out an email lying to people and get them to pay you money for something that doesn't exist. And not that I'm saying he didn't work hard. And in any venue of his life, but damn, this is really dirty. It's really bad. I don't like it.

• 58:10Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah. And to back to the story, I'm glad that we're going over this because it is a big jump, but to 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. So to think that this person, their character would have them doing something like 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.

• 58:48Stephanie Harlowe?

  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?

• 59:04Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 59:17Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah. And we have, we have entities in the United States, the SEC, which is the Securities and Exchange Commission, that is an independent government agency that's, that's a 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, you know, bad guys who would do something like this. So why, 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, no problems, no issues, no accountability.

• 59:55Derrick Levasseur?

  I mean, look at Bernie Madoff. He, he thought he was going to get away with it.

• 59:58Stephanie Harlowe?

  They all do. I mean, they, they all usually get caught.

• 1:00:01Derrick Levasseur?

  They do until they don't.

• 1:00:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  I think it's just a matter of time at that point.

• 1:00:05Derrick Levasseur?

  It is. It is. That's what happens. You can go years without getting caught.

• 1:00:08Stephanie Harlowe?

  But you're going to get caught. The more people you screw over, the more chance you have of getting caught. And some of these guys would be smart to just do a couple of schemes, cut and run, leave the country. But they get cocky and they're like, ah, this was easy. Let me keep going.

• 1:00:22Derrick Levasseur?

  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 do you 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.

• 1:00:39Stephanie Harlowe?

  So much.

• 1:00:40Derrick Levasseur?

  And he and the FBI said, thank you very much. And that was it. That's how they got him.

• 1:00:44Stephanie Harlowe?

  I love that scene on the yacht when the FBI agent comes out.

• 1:00:48Derrick Levasseur?

  Fun coupons?

• 1:00:49Stephanie Harlowe?

  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?

• 1:00:56Derrick Levasseur?

  Like, I thought you were gonna say Leo, cuz I thought Leo was, you know.

• 1:00:59Stephanie Harlowe?

  Whatever.

• 1:01:00Derrick Levasseur?

  Leo was looking good in it too.

• 1:01:01Stephanie Harlowe?

  Margot Robbie stunning. Oh my God. Like, I just, I can't stand it. But anyways, alright, so.

• 1:01:08Derrick Levasseur?

  Now imagine if I was the one saying that.

• 1:01:10Stephanie Harlowe?

  You can say that Margot Robbie is stunning. She's stunning.

• 1:01:13Derrick Levasseur?

  She looked very nice in the movie.

• 1:01:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  She's amazing.

• 1:01:15Derrick Levasseur?

  She looked very nice.

• 1:01:16Stephanie Harlowe?

  She's beautiful. She's, oh my God, I love her. Okay, so 2003, SEC files a lawsuit against Porter, right? And Pirate Investor. Now what happens in 2004? Well, Porter is talking to Rey Rivera. Come work for my company. That's like under investigation by the SEC.

• 1:01:34Derrick Levasseur?

  Right.

• 1:01:34Stephanie Harlowe?

  So, but this was the venture, Pirate and, you know, Pirate Investor LLC was the venture that, that started Porter onto his financial success and his wealth. And in 2004, Porter extended an offer to Rey Rivera, asking him to join his team as a writer for one of his financial newsletters. Now, of course, is Porter gonna be like, hey, the SEC is suing me? Like, you know, no, no, he's not gonna tell him that stuff. For the record officially, I don't know if he did or not, but.

• 1:02:02Derrick Levasseur?

  I mean, he could've.

• 1:02:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  I would assume he didn't.

• 1:02:05Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, this is going on. It's all bullshit.

• 1:02:07Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, he could've done that, yeah. Yeah, definitely. So, this also seemed to be something that Porter Stansberry 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.

• 1:02:32Speaker 03

  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, 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.

• 1:03:05Speaker 03

  Right? Would you, 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, if you just make decisions like that. I, my belief is that things will go well for your business.

• 1:03:17Stephanie Harlowe?

  Now, here's my take on this. And I'm just gonna, you know, 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 know, you can say like, hmm, never hire somebody you don't want to be stuck in an airport with for five hours. That's, 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.

• 1:03:57Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 going to raise the red flag or sound the alarm if they see something shady happening. They're just going to 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, he met this, uh, who's Jonah, Jonah Hill's character? He met, 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.

• 1:04:38Stephanie Harlowe?

  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-

• 1:04:51Derrick Levasseur?

  They're pot committed at that point.

• 1:04:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  They're committed, their hand, 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 of it.

• 1:05:01Derrick Levasseur?

  And now, 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.

• 1:05:10Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yes. And you're complicit. You're complicit. For Rey 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. It's not, he's not thinking like, oh, I'm a patsy or, oh, I'm just somebody that doesn't know anything about this. So, 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.

• 1:05:54Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 1:06:08Derrick Levasseur?

  Heart in the right place, but under the wrong, under the wrong terms.

• 1:06:13Stephanie Harlowe?

  Trusting, naive. Yeah. So let's take our last break and we'll be right back.

• 1:06:22Stephanie Harlowe?

  So, 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.

• 1:07:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  At 702 Cathedral Street, the former headquarters of the Apostolic 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 Agora'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.

• 1:07:50Stephanie Harlowe?

  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

• 1:08:35Stephanie Harlowe?

  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

• 1:09:18Stephanie Harlowe?

  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.

• 1:09:26Derrick Levasseur?

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:09:27Stephanie Harlowe?

  10, 15 years later, it's like, yo, we were so close back then, but.

• 1:09:31Derrick Levasseur?

  So depressing.

• 1:09:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  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. Like, what do we talk about?

• 1:09:42Derrick Levasseur?

  Life comes at you fast.

• 1:09:44Stephanie Harlowe?

  Mm hmm. 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.

• 1:10:03Derrick Levasseur?

  Financial security.

• 1:10:04Stephanie Harlowe?

  But he was not in Baltimore to get rich.

• 1:10:06Derrick Levasseur?

  Right.

• 1:10:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  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, you know, dreamed of when she was a little girl. Despite these challenges, though, Ray did manage to make some meaningful connections. Um, once he flew out to visit Allison in LA 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, you know, same cities at different times. Their friendship blossomed and Cynthia became Rey'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 Alakat

• 1:10:49Stephanie Harlowe?

  City, just 10 miles outside of Baltimore. Now, coincidentally, Allison's aunt also lived in Alakat 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, was not Ray's cup of tea. He was somebody who thrived in, you know, sunny, warm climates. Um, he liked to be near the water. All of these things Baltimore lacked.

• 1:11:29Derrick Levasseur?

  There's water in Baltimore? What are we talking about?

• 1:11:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  What kind of water?

• 1:11:33Derrick Levasseur?

  You can just go over it. Just a little bit further. You got Robin Pope. You get the Chesapeake Bay right there. Come on.

• 1:11:39Stephanie Harlowe?

  I don't know. I don't know if that's kind of water.

• 1:11:40Derrick Levasseur?

  I'm definitely being sarcastic.

• 1:11:42Stephanie Harlowe?

  I mean, he's used to California. He's used to Puerto Rico.

• 1:11:45Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, it's a little different. A little different.

• 1:11:47Stephanie Harlowe?

  Chesapeake Bay is not.

• 1:11:48Derrick Levasseur?

  You know, listen.

• 1:11:50Stephanie Harlowe?

  Not on par.

• 1:11:50Derrick Levasseur?

  It's all we got over here on the East Coast. Go easy on us.

• 1:11:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  Oh, we have some water on the East Coast. Just Baltimore, Maryland is not the place I'd go if you're, if you really love being by the water.

• 1:12:00Derrick Levasseur?

  And I will say Annapolis, that area, you know, it's not, it's pretty. It's very pretty. But yeah, no, it's not, it's not California. It's not Puerto Rico.

• 1:12:07Stephanie Harlowe?

  It is, but I would compare Baltimore to more of like a Chicago, a New York City.

• 1:12:12Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:12Stephanie Harlowe?

  A Philadelphia, you know, these are very like high rises. 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.

• 1:12:33Derrick Levasseur?

  Did a cloud just open up over your car and just dump snow on it?

• 1:12:36Stephanie Harlowe?

  I don't know what happened last night, but I couldn't even use my, my snow brush. I had to get a broom.

• 1:12:41Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 1:12:48Stephanie Harlowe?

  No, it was perfectly snow falling. And I, and I said to myself, because usually I just be getting in my car, warming it up for a couple of minutes. Go, the snow will blow off, you know?

• 1:12:56Derrick Levasseur?

  You're that person?

• 1:12:58Stephanie Harlowe?

  I am absolutely that person. I'm so sorry.

• 1:12:59Derrick Levasseur?

  You're walking around with three feet of snow on the top of your hood that hits my windshield?

• 1:13:03Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, I know. I feel terrible, but my, my, 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, you know, down my driveway, which is pretty long. And I was like, yeah, this is not going to 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.

• 1:13:30Derrick Levasseur?

  We feel you, right. We get it. We get it.

• 1:13:32Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, we feel you. So Ray is living at the Peabody Hotel. He's there for three months, maintaining a long-distance relationship with his fiance. 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,

• 1:14:15Stephanie Harlowe?

  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

• 1:15:00Stephanie Harlowe?

  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 fiance Allison. It was not to be, not in the cards for him, I guess.

• 1:15:16Derrick Levasseur?

  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.

• 1:15:41Stephanie Harlowe?

  No, I it wouldn't.

• 1:15:43Derrick Levasseur?

  So you just, this is the foundation. This is the foundation. You have to know it. And and just like in any real investigation, you gotta 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, still knowing that unfortunately, that's what makes the world go around. And even though he's out there for his, you know, fiancee, trying to build a better life, sometimes you can get tied up in some some bad things, even if you're not directly connected to him. And I'm gonna be interested to know more about next episode.

• 1:16:28Stephanie Harlowe?

  Well, I just I to to kind of just prove to you and everyone who maybe isn't familiar with this case. And they're like, why do we just to talk about all this? The 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.

• 1:17:08Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, well, don't give us any hints here for anybody who doesn't know the case. But I'm gonna be interested to hear, just from trying to be objective about this. I'm where 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 gonna be that Ray overheard something or was involved in something where these guys said, hey, we gotta shut him up, right? That's gonna be one of the theories. Shocker. But there are gonna be some other theories that. We're gonna have to discuss because you talked very briefly in the teaser about how 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.

• 1:17:53Derrick Levasseur?

  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 the series? Two, three? What's? How long do you see this series playing?

• 1:18:11Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's far too soon to ask me that right now.

• 1:18:12Derrick Levasseur?

  Can't even do it. Can't even just don't do it, Derek. Okay, so we're gonna 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 Rey Rivera and we'll all be better informed about it.

• 1:18:33Stephanie Harlowe?

  Absolutely. So until next time, be safe out there.

• 1:18:37Derrick Levasseur?

  There we go. Stay, stay safe out there.

• 1:18:39Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yes.

• 1:18:40Derrick Levasseur?

  Stay safe out there. We'll see you guys soon. Have a good night.

• 1:18:43Stephanie Harlowe?

  Bye.

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