Chapter 6 — High As Hell
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AManda's journey so far has been more than four years long, with more than four cancer relapses. Most people were as supportive as they could be, donating gift cards, classes, time, babysitting tips and cold, hard cash, but not everyone was on board the support. AManda drain.

you really learn who's there for you when you have nothing else to give. Although IT hurt, when some friends and even family haven't really shown support the amount of people following and back, my story is something I couldn't have even thought them before. cancer. Thank you. You are hashtag I AManda.

AManda's blogs have gotten into the head of investigative produce, a nci, and SHE just couldn't let IT go, even as those close to her became concerned about how sess SHE was. Nancy wasn't the only one who is suspicious, though detective Martinez, a son who za police joined the slow growing team. Nancy.

I was starting to meet. Her response was not consistent with what was happening. IT was fake concern like, oh my god, as the kids gonna make IT to school, okay?

AManda had found out about Nancy, and SHE wasn't going to let some faceless investigative producer ruin her life from the comfort of a laptop.

And I was getting the man of my mail box and I opened them up. And it's just stuff, ed, with paper. I'm looking through IT and i'm, what is this? And I see the name amand rally.

I see Nancy muscatel on, like, what is this? I see restraining order, civil harassment. And my mind is catching up to what i'm reading and putting them together like, oh my god, he was taking me for the court for a restraining order.

AManda had some good news. SHE was going back to full time work for the first time in four years.

I'm happy to announce that this monday i'm a middle school teacher .

and SHE wasn't going to let Nancy get .

in the way of IT.

I'm charlie webster. You're listening to skanda.

There was somebody else questioning AManda in her very own home.

When I live with my dad, I just kind of a had to follow everything they did. I had to be perfect jasa.

the thirteen year old bonus daughter.

I remember a man of things. He is in pain and he just didn't feel good. SHE would stand her back. Old days, SHE couldn't, couldn't get out of bed.

What would you do?

Go to school, handle all my responsibility, ie. S and all my after school stuff. I'd took a big part in taking care, my little brothers, too, at home.

What else do you have today?

Most of my job as their babies. That was just just being there with the m from, like, the time I go home from school to the time I had to go to sleep. And I was the one there with them all the time, a man that was always upstairs in her bed. My dad was always doing something else working. Now I don't know what he was to, but I was the one taking care of most of .

the time.

IT was really stressful. They're always put a lot of pressure on me to exceeding school and do really well in athletic activities, in everything that I had to come home and take care. The kids and IT was a lot of pressure, was a lot of pressure.

After finding the iv in her brother's room, justice started to put two into together.

I told my mom about the I V thing, and I told her, I don't see an end of lake go to appointment saying more. My dad doesn't go to appointments with learning more. I don't even know where he goes. And my mom then told me that there is an investigation going on, and that in the end of, didn't have cancer when .

SHE SAT down. And he told me, why do I find that I V, I, I rule. And he was talking about the I V.

And then he started asking me about her dad not going to a keo appointment. Basically, this kid was telling me things aren't adding up, right? So I had a dollar.

Why didn't you tell me before.

I guess, to prior .

protector .

as long as possible? The kid was just too don smart. SHE knew SHE put IT together fairly quickly. I really didn't have to keep IT from a very long. At the same time, I was still an investigation. And though I know was true, I needed proof to prove anything in court, right? But even though we had people for the court system to talk to and the people in the court system to talk, they still didn't do anything.

What was that like .

you to hear?

That was really hard. IT was life changing. I D believed for so many years that he was sick. I've been told that he didn't have that long to live. My emotions were just toyed with pretty much SHE was falling, all those people.

And then like having to go back home with my dad and just kind sit there knowing that that was going on was really hard. My mom had, I think, IT was weekly visitation, and we had like two hours in a parking lot somewhere just in the current talk. So I live with my dad and amenda for quite a while, knowing that SHE didn't have cancer, I wasn't able to do anything. But I felt like me in my family were living a lie because IT seemed that everything was based around a man of being sick, and not how you are getting our money in our food and our Christmas gifts and my gnash s lessons, my tennis license, everything like that, everything that was going on in her life was waste around the madness. cancer.

Would you mean by your gym state lessons and your tennis lessons?

The instructors, I guess, sorry, and donated those lessons to me.

Did you ever feel like saying anything to your dad?

I know I couldn't. I knew that not only would IT cause a lot of problems for me, but I knew I probably, when they will see my mom anymore, I knew he d take IT to court and say she's toying just all these horrible things, and I didn't want that.

What was you that like during that time?

I don't know how to describe that. He was very, I want to say not himself, but I don't think I really know who he actually is as a person. He just kind of looked them all the time. He knew he was doing something wrong.

What was his behavior like?

He was always taken us everywhere. He was always going to the gym with my dad. He always just gonna be like, or, you know, Mandy, sick.

And we can do this. And IT kind of was with AManda, oh, I can't because i'm sick. I can do this.

I can do that. Became sick. SHE always tries to put on a nice face in front of me.

I think it's part of her trying to win your trust back and try to make me feel sorry for her. And I never did I see right through who he is, and I will. That can happen. They would take us to the hospital, almost kind of prove that, oh, some things wrong with her.

Low blood pressure.

low blood counts, fainting, fevers, illness, pick line infections, mimmy's, heart attack and everything else. You can think of five hospital days and thirty two doctors appointments, slash lab visits this month alone.

I just remember hearing that, oh, a man is really, really sick this time, and she's gonna like a big surgery. Girls had a big girl go to hospital. You guys can visit.

So we did is really strong for me because I knew shouldn't have cancer. And like, what are you telling the doctors? Like, what's the reason you're here? You know mean.

just I had said he was really upset and he asked me if SHE was going to get in trouble because he felt like because he was getting, you know, free this and free that. I mean, he thought he was going to get in trouble at one point. And I said, no, absolutely not. This is not because of you. This because of what AManda.

What AManda was doing was getting the attention of detective Martini's from the sanhedrin department.

I started talking to the man is are turning, and I ended up getting on the phone with him and I said, this is a real simple case, is so simple that is complex.

All I need to know is, does he or does he not have cancer? Do you know? He said, well, he told me he had cancer, and you've seen all of her, so we meet us IT again, do you know? And so that's when, days following, he showed up to the police department with a note from a doctor saying it's something to the fact that he was in remission cancer.

There was something specific because it's doctor and now is a hospital name. And so I thought, this is easy. I am going to contact the hospital.

They actually have an investigative division, and now a lot of them are retired FBI directors. So had to give this whole case spill again. And they weren't one hundred percent CoOperated. They were kind like what will accept your information, but we can share with you what we're doing or the direction we're going to go in with this. okay. But I just need to know, wasn't not this doctor knows that their name is attached to this communication and this him that made deceiving, can you you just say that so then you I send that down the rabbit hole. Detective Martina .

showed us a letter with the doctors header and signature stating that his patient among desi Riley was in remission from cancer.

having cases kind of of the person in the circus that has all the little sticks, and there are spinning the plates on all the sticks, and they are holding two in their hands and one on their nose and one on their head. And they just keep spinning in place before the plate robes off and fall. That's what you're doing all day.

You're just keep spinning the plates. I just keep you giving a little turn and keep IT roll in. And so that was another little plate spin for me. I'll see what comes back from this. So I think that went down on the line.

Then I got back on the horse, calling people again as the blog continued, and the information was continuing to come in the and sharing with me up, SHE blogged again, SHE was here. He was there. He was there on these dates or whatever. And okay, now i'm going to follow up with all these little pieces that walks sent me down to my the first break in the case.

I remember thinking, oh, detective, I spoke to her. Oh my god, this is great. SHE is onna stuck? As I really, at that point, I just wanted her to stop.

He was really hard to look at what he was doing. And I just, oh, she's going to stop. This is great.

He's going. She's gonna shed her pants and detective from the police department she's now in contact with. It's gonna stop.

He was ignored as he like, she's in too deep. I was like, no, no. Like I would stop.

I assumed this would be enough to kind of o OK. We're done here like I could. I feel like I could sleep Better. And IT was pretty soon after they were going back and forth that I think to me he took the biggest sleep of claiming he was self injecting chemo therapy.

one more blood test, which cleared me to fly home. And my doctor so graciously is going to let me self inject my next round of chemo.

yikes. When i've read that, I just remember like yelling something out, like you've got to be fucking kidding me. Like for first that he is so ridiculous that there's so many things wrong with that.

It's like that one's injecting chemotherapy. You ever known anybody to inject chemotherapy at house? I mean, how much bother could you get? Like, and I just work. Okay, she's go on all the .

way while IT sound a ridiculous to anc's that someone could self inject camera at home IT turns out that IT is possible to self in jet chemo.

I was calling to all these hospitals, and I thought i'm getting the same conversation with everybody I would call in and I would talk to you like a CEO or somebody in the upper management. And I think i'm going to change my formula hair. I'm going to ask for the legal department. So city of hope in southern california put me through to their legal department .

in her blog. City of hope is really crucial. SHE talked about IT. SHE is in seen by them because he was gonna a democrat transplant there. So he had blogged about how he was going to be in that hospital for three or four months that SHE had all her pre visits. And in other documentation, cory and her wrote to the x wife, a leader, and said, we're moving to on the california because she's getting stem cell treatment at city of hope.

In cancer patients that have already done several rounds of chemotherapy and the cancer still persist, a stem cell transplant can be used as a way for doctors to give higher doses of radiation therapy or chemo. City of hope is one of the world's largest and most successful stem cell transport centres. Detto Martinez was hoping to get some information in a phone call to .

city of hope. Okay, here we go. Like I thought maybe three minutes, sell this thing to somebody who's gonna bite. By that time, I had told the stories many times that I, we find IT down to the three minute presentation. So finally, somebody gets on the line from the legal department.

I said before you hang up, because i've had a number of conversations with so many organizations, you just listen to me for just a man, hear me out, and then you can make a decision. But here me first. Let sing him for just a second.

And so I gave little quick bill, Young lady, she's been saying he has cancer. She's been blogging. She's been collecting money from sites and going around across the states and still selling this this whole thing I said. Now he may very well be sick, but SHE cited your hospital as one of her stops.

Stem cell and plate let harvesting has been scheduled finally, one in february and one in march. With city of hopes, research and technology, they can gather the stem cells with a low additive and a machine, rather than having to penetrate hit phones for the miro, which is incredible, insurance has signed the out of line. Finally, one of the .

place that he stayed at here, this is the doctor. He said this is the medication SHE says he was given and this is not hiper. Because if she's not a patient hair, then there's no confidently you're just saying yes or no, right? What's the liability and if you just saying yes or no, so I said, if you want take a look at the blog, I can send you a quick snipped up in an email and it's not something that I put out.

It's something you put out, right? So i'm just asking you to say yes or no, he was a patient or SHE wasn't. How hard is that right? And if you say if you give me the truth, then I can pursue the truth, right? And I can get to the bottom of this and and she's really faking. Then I can pursue the truth from another end and maybe take this girl off the set so that she's not redirecting monies and services and resources that should go to somebody who truly has the illness.

according to AManda's mom, Peggy, the city of hope procedure was a success. SHE sent to me, you ml around her friends and family to let them know and thank them for their help covering the cost.

friends and family. AManda is doing well. City of hope successfully harvested some of her stem cells. SHE is tough and the family is committed to doing whatever IT takes response to support AManda a com. The past six months has been a huge help in covering the costs of her copies, prescriptions and deductibles. Thank you all, and please revisit as you can.

Detective Martinez was waiting for a call back from city of hope to confirm AManda was a patient there.

I sent them the blog that the ashe sent me. They took a while. They get back to me like a week.

So they gave me an email basically saying, no, she's not a patient. She's never been a patient. And that was from their lego department. And I got chills because I was finally, after all these calls, you're all these emails, his phone conversation I have, I know you a frauds are now.

This was the piece of information that detective Martinez felt he needed, but now he had to figure out what to do with IT. While AManda may not have been a patient at city of hope, I didn't mean SHE didn't have cancer. Martin has needed something more than just an email from a hospital's legal department.

Have to sell to a district carri for them to bite into IT and go, okay, well, know there. The ones had to present the same core. They want to feel confident.

I'm not given them something that you know going to get in court is going to fall apart like an next show in california after her as long as that business does business in california. And saturday day in the connection, the access to where I met, then I could reach for IT. But he was doing stuff on these coast, and then that put me out of region.

I wasn't sure what he was doing over there and everywhere between. If my only goal is to just get a charge on her, I can get a local charge. But if you doing something federal, hold different ball game.

In the months that I was communicating with detective Martinez, I handed over the information I had. He was knee deep in his investigation. He was able to talk with AManda. He was able to verify a lot of the information I gave him reached out to medical facility. So he he was working the case his way and could only take IT.

So far, IT just was frustrated to me to be in this holding cycle of, okay, what's gna happen? What's next? When's all all these things and um I think in the end, I would just got really frustrating for the both of us.

So I thought about all cases and I thought I compound didn't get taken down for all the in murder bootleg prohibition style get taken down from from the iron s and I thought, well, he is getting money is from all this from, who knows, for forever, right? You're on the internet. The internet is world wide.

I had spoken with my father's law in regards to AMandas case because he was retired I R. S. agent. And you know, i'm just talking through IT with him. He said, well, know you should contact the irs because that's why are fraud he explained why. He explained um what her actions meant in the world of federal felony charges and he said, no d you should call the irs. That's exactly what I did.

I had that are let me, the irs investigator in investigative school. So he invited me to come down to the office in SHE, heard the whole thing out. And then we have this conversation. And then I, here we are.

what you think.

And I was surprised, like, I like IT. I want to go with that sounds good because they had no cases like this before. And I S cancer scm, my name is, are lately i'm .

an area special agent. One of our things we do is its financial crimes, primarily tax. But any sort of a financial crime where there's fraud involved, the appeal to me was there was money being obtained fraudulently.

So that's just that's right of our ally with all kinds of financial crisis, whether it's investment, fried or any other type financial crime. And this was no different except the draw was really wants to know, okay, she's pretending to have cancer, telling people he has cancer, she's getting donations. And for myself, I like, well, I want to find out if he does or not.

It's just human nature. Then you have that that financial aspect where he is getting money under false pretenses. And so I was able to join the case, assisting with detective Martinez from the sannella police department. And so that's kind of how .

I started despite the now federal investigation into AManda SHE kept posting every time .

I have to go to new york, especially so close together, it's panic time .

and posting a family from .

church reached out on thankful ving and decided they wanted to pay for my trial drug, all one thousand, three hundred and fifty dollars of .

IT and posting then .

beautiful Catherine family graciously use their points to get me tune from no questions ask on top of being our most consistent on our donors. So this trip cost our family nothing.

Thanking people for their generous donations.

we had another family offered to pay my next chemo medication in two weeks. I can even tell you what IT feels like to not feel any monetary stress for this trip or the next. We feel.

feel very blessed. And he was posting pictures alongside self is in hospital, have Bruce arms from all the needles and the medication that he was now self injecting.

We are officially two a unthrift y natural injections down. I thought giving myself injections would be a lot scarier than IT was. IT was actually really easy and relatively pain free .

using my you proposing with a needle and medications and talking about these are the medications. And I am going to be able to do this at home. I mean, a clinical trial is so specific and you have to be in a house that is that's the whole idea. But she's special and she's allowed to do IT at home now is absurd.

When I started to fact check .

what was in AManda's blog and regard to her treatments in new york and the drugs in the clinical trials he was involved with, I knew I couldn't call up and say, oh, tell me all about a mandri in her treatment like he does. You can't do that, right? So I had to come up with a way to ask the questions that were very um abroad.

I had reached out to that oncology department, right? I introduced myself. I told them who I was and what I was investigating, and I sent them the blog. So they saw the blog. They saw what a man that was claiming to be treated there, and they didn't like what they saw and they were really concerned. And then about a week later, you know, they got back to me and said, we can't talk to you about any of our patients or anyone in particular, but we would like to answer what your questions you may have.

I started going through the blog pathetically with each trip to new york, and I said on this date, and I would give the date, did you have the start of a new clinical trial for the drug? cosu? Ta, and they would say, no, we did not have a trial start that week and that would call back each time, very specific.

I quoted everything from her blog on this date. Did you have a patient received croda and have a lung collapse on this date from this medication? No, we did not on this state did you have a patient break out in hives and needed megadoses of benefico because of such a severe reaction to the drug cauda?

No, we nor only was IT. no. But I would say ninety percent of the time I was we don't have a current trial of caution going right now.

Clinical trials have regulated. It's very specific. The start dates in their end dates, a manager treatment did not fit into any of that protocol. So I knew, I knew he wasn't being treated there, and I knew the facts made no sense. AManda was claiming to be allowed to self inject kruer at home.

What SHE was claiming was IT was holiday time IT was gonna be SHE was supposed to go back for another round of cauda IT was thanksgiving. And SHE put in her blog, oh, isn't this create? My Younger logic wants me to be able to enjoy the holidays at home, so he is allowing me to self inject basically in the comforts of my own home.

So I called and I said, do you allow any of the drugs to be shipped, to be used in the comfort of somebody's home with they're in the clinical trial. They didn't even know what to say that first. Then there was like, no, absolutely not.

I said, I will explain. I asked him to explain the process of giving someone the drug cauda. And I was told cathode is is stored at, you know, below freezing temperatures. IT has to be reconstituted in a ventilated pharmacy IT then has to be given in an iv form, added to another solution. So this is a multi step process in very, very restricted areas where this proper ventilation and that is made into an iv.

You know, when a man that was claiming to just be, you know, shooting IT up herself self at home in the bathroom, he was shown pictures of herself with the middle up in the air. A man rally was not in a clinical trial, a mandri. I was surely not injecting chemo therapy at home. IT was just that simple.

The drug could rudder is given through an I V line over a thirty minute period, and treatments usually take place at a doctor's office or an infusion clinic. Nance's investigation may have begun quietly, but he was starting to show her hand, and AManda was not having any of IT Nancy game home monday to a stack of papers stuffin her male box. AManda was serving her with a civil harassment restraining order.

My initial action when I got the papers was okay. I got to talk to an attorney. This was on a friday.

The paperwork said I was doing court on tuesday morning, and monday was a court holiday, so there was no one I could contact at the courts in between. I called the attack y they said, where you physically served. I said, no, no one handed me papers that were stuffin my male box.

And they said, well, you weren't legally served. You don't have to appear. If you weren't legally served, whoever was supposed to serve me was paid to come to southern california and hand me papers.

You have to be physically served. The paper. The person serving you is acknowledging that they serve the proper person and that the person receiving the papers is Nancy muscatel.

O, so putting him in A A random mailbox does IT mean Nancy muscatel was served. That means a small box was served. So what should have happened is when I came home from work, a person would have approached me and said, our unanimity, mosquito.

O, and I probably would have turn, yes, why? And they would to hand me and said, you've been served and handed me see paperwork. That is how you serve someone.

I would have had to have been in san haz, california tuesday morning by A A M. And I live in most Angeles, which is a five hour drive. So I knew like I needed answers and I need to know what to do. Did I need to get up to send us or not? It's a five hour drive IT was a holiday weekend and um I was told, you know, you don't need to be there.

What will you been accused of?

I was being accused of harassment, civil harassment. So he wanted AManda rally, wanted a restraining order to stop me from contacting family, contacting work, not for her, but for her husband, quality, and to have a basically no contact with anyone involved in their lives. One of the things he wanted me to be restrained from doing with contacting family members, SHE said.

I had reached out many times and contacted family members, which just was not true. SHE said that I got her fired from one of her jobs. That just was not true, SHE said.

I got her husband fired from one of his jobs. Again, that just wasn't true. That I took on different personality and were posting things line about her. again. That just wasn't true. No, see.

i've got the definition of civil harassment here, said civil harassment is abuse, threat of abuse, stalk's of assault or serious harassment by someone you have not dated and do not have a close relationship with. Then there's the civil harassment laws, which is specific. A IT says harassment is unlawful violence like assault or battery or stalking.

A A credible, real threat of violence and the violence or threat seriously scare, annoyed or harass someone. And there is no valid reason for IT. Do you think in anyway, he had a case because he felt that IT was harassing to her and IT was annoying to her. I mean, I don't .

think a man rarely had a leg to stand on. I mean, I didn't contact her. I didn't threaten her. I didn't reach out in any way that wasn't extremely professional. And what any journalists would do know, I would say a mandi felt seriously arrests are annoyed about being caught or about being called out, or about being questioned, because none of my actions were threatened, violent. Anything that I would say you was that line.

How did you feel that he .

was taking you to call? I was concerned for my reputation and the work that I do and having repercussions from this because it's important that I I follow a cosa essex that I I feel a really important. And so when someone calls IT to question, it's really important to defend myself and to hold true to how I do things.

I knew what a Manda Riley was capable of, and I knew he would not hesitate to use manipulation and lies to stop me. I see the little thread of truth that AManda used to, then exaggerate, change and depict me as some out of control person. But yeah you you know when you have a testing order is serious.

I mean, that's something that's on your record. So that wasn't a good feeling at all and was a journalist that someone that works in news like a restraining order for what like that, that's really detrimental. SHE essentially was able to get a judge to restrain in the press.

Despite the threat, announce his reputation, a pending restraining order and being questioned not only by her friends but her husband and daughter, SHE was in so deep that SHE couldn't let IT go. IT was impossible to resist contacting I arrest special agent are at lee.

I reached out, I said, I don't want to cover across nuts like writing of self but I said anything I could show the back in fourth of what AManda was saying and doing. And I said, just look at this stuff i've done. I had particularly logs of all my phone calls to the different doctors in the different places that I was trying to keep.

In order to have a look at that, have a look at the blog. Here's my source. Agreed to speak to federal agents also, if need be. I sent over everything digitally and just said, just look at IT and then let's go from there. Anything you ask me, whatever you want, I can kind give me because this is a lot to taken.

And so months one, I didn't hear anything I would periodically, when I would come across someone new or about new information, I would send IT IT took a few months till I actually heard back from our let one of the first thing he said, and I know the feeling, he said, you know, my sister has cancer and its not good. And so when I finally SAT down and looked at everything you said, I could not believe somebody could do this. And I want to take this case on and see what I can do.

And I knew he couldn't tell me much. SHE had explained that they have to go in front of her grandchild. SHE explained me, once that happened, you can send people my way.

You could, if you, with one, if they wanted talk to me, give my number. But I can't let you know what's going on. I said, that's fine. I said, you just have to trust that i'm working. We're working on IT.

Went Nancy started telling me about we were on the phone and she's telling me about what they thought AManda iley was doing. I just felt my my heart like my throat got really tight and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I also felt a sense sort of guilty.

I thought, how could somebody who's doing this? How could I be looking at somebody like this? Because a lot of times people will come and say, this person is doing this letter.

And the other thing, and IT may not necessarily be a hundred percent through. I fall nervous looking at this case, was I making the right decision to look at IT? But my job is to look at the fact.

So I got information. I need to figure out whether or not crimes being committed. After talking to detective Martinez, I knew, okay, there's really there's something there. And so then I was at that point, okay, I need to talk to the was turtle's office to see if we can look at this further because I think detective Martinez was limited in what he could get at that point. Uh, in the investigation .

there was .

enough information, enough public records because you have these posts to show that something doesn't add up. And so that's when I decided, okay, let me look at disclosable .

as much as we might like to think IT could be, lying isn't illegal. Investigators have to sit through the web of lies and find evidence of what actual crime is being committed. In this case, there was a pay portrayal of donations coming in online.

Wireless g is when there's some fraudful lent statement, there's something that leads people to give you send you money through the wires. And in this particular case, SHE saying that he has cancer, people are sending her money and then the money goes through her bank accounts. And so wire fraud is is pretty much using the wires to get money under false pretenses.

The way our cases workers, we work up the investigation, we get all over evidence and then we present IT um to the U S. Chinese office or prosecution. And so sometimes IT just takes longer.

I think a lot of the witnesses and including Nancy would call and say is going on. And then i'm like, I have been given up. I'm still working on this, but the wheels of justice sometimes just move slowly. When there's indications of fraud with medical records, we are able to sepa those records, criminal investigators can get access to those records via sapa.

Can you tell us about those medical records?

There were a lot of record because IT covered a long, a long period of time. So but as far as you know what was in the record, I want I won't do what to discuss that ah but there were a lot of medical problems.

Does a lot mean because small pilot or does a lot mean like you can filter room with folder?

It's all the electronic so I mean, I would look at IT in in peaceful ill as I would get IT, but thousands and thousands of pages. So there there were a lot of records .

to go through.

How much did her blog actually help you?

IT was very helpful because IT did. If he said he was going to be at city of hope or SHE was going to be at columbia, then that's where we went.

Agents, and I didn't really talk that much. After that, if there were some information or a person I came across that I thought you needed to know about, I would email or direct that person to be out to her. I wasn't privy to what was going on in the investigation, and then I got a tip that they were going to be serving a search warrant on AManda and quality willies home. And IT was at that point that I knew IT was an active and open case.

Nancy actually went to the RAID with, heard a polter friend on a Garcia.

I'm in a Garcia and i'm a crime reporter. Nancy got a tip that the authorities were going to be serving a search warrant on AManda's house. And usually these things happen before the sun also rises, because you want to make sure that you catch everyone when they're not expecting you for a lot of reasons, because IT IT make sure that the people who you are serving the search warned on don't have time to destroy evidence.

So when you catch them, when they're kind of sleepy, it's the ultimate to preserve evidence. So we got there several hours before daylight, and there were three of us in the car. And we are parked out of the way, but yet still able to see AMandas house.

And you know, in those early morning hours, when you're sitting in a car, you are just talking about everything and just waiting and IT IT never ceases to surprise me how when the RAID goes down, IT happens so quickly, even though you're sitting there and waiting and prepared that always that that happens so fast that you're like scrambling and you're jumping and everything's dropping out of your lap as you're running out of the car and running tour the house where this is happening, you're always catching up even when you're they are waiting. And that's exactly what happened that morning. By the time we ran up there, the agents were already through the front yard, at the front door with a battering RAM and banging on the door and waking everyone up.

This is real audio of the house RAID. The voice you can hear is none, his friend anna describing what is going on right now.

IT looks like the irs is going in with agents to search the house. They are knocking on the door. They've got a warrant. You can hear them. We're knocking on the door.

They're saying we've got a warrant. We did a stakeout when the feds came. They came like before six A M in the morning.

It's like everything you see on TV that came four or five big issue. V S. The battering RAM swat team.

IT was easily ten irs agents armed. They all jump out and they split and go up the side of the property over fences around the back from what, you know, the other group did the other way. And then they knock on the door. These yell, federal investigators open up that I said, all right.

the cops are going over the fence. You've got cops at the door banging, screaming police. You've got a search, warn.

They are now jumping over that fans. You can hear him. You can see them flashlights everywhere.

please. only.

Okay, so they're somebody home. They're telling them .

to open the door if I don't open up. Oi, oh my god, I think this is crazy looking because, no, she's a mom of two. She's a sweet little.

This is why the neighbors know her ads, right? And then this pulls up, and I had to keep reminding myself like, no, this is what happens when you do these things. I saw them show paperwork to quality. Like this is why we're here. Here's the documentation for us to come into your home.

I can't talk too much about that, but i'm not going to deny there was a search one because media showed up, which is not uncommon and I know that uh, in this particular case, uh, the M C. Was keeping an eye on everything that he could but I can talk about what happened at the search or but i'm not gonna a deny that there was a search and .

if I could have your name, please, and what agency .

you represent, a special agent with irs criminal investigation.

Can you tell us what you're doing here?

The only thing I can tell you at this point is that we are here on official business. I don't have anything that's a matter of public record, so at this time, i'm not able to provide any details.

Detective Martinez was also at the RAID. I'm a detective .

with the sand oz police department financial crimes investigations this morning at this residence, the irs served a search, one for the residence here.

Do you know what they were looking .

for is pertaining to a financial crime ment investigation, which is an open investigation with the irs at this time. I've been on a lot of a chance, and I knew that the arrest is gonna a full team of their own people, people because now they're looking for very specific items that we're trying to collect to prove these charges. I was in there with him, but my bigger interest was to talk with her, one on one in room, living room.

Just see what demand is the minus. The search to room with the irs folks, and I was looking for what I knew I would fine, which was ended the presence. Sani s, in the reason those are important in the game is that even burglary cruise larger, sophisticated organized crime crews when they go in to do A A job, a lot of them would take exam ics and energy.

So they were super calm and super collected, even though there was chaos going on in the excitement of the moment, they would get lost in IT. And so when I saw that he had dank and ended the present type stuff, I thought, she's gonna just super chill. Can he also pop the couple today? probably.

And SHE was really cool cat. He was just just sit on the couch just chatting like ecod. I thought you were highs or right now, girl. And I SAT this directly cross and he says on, so you're Martinez, I am nice to meet you.

What did you say to her? SHE didn't talk about the case.

and I didn't want to go down the road to the case. SHE already knew what the game was. SHE knew. I knew at that point he had had known you have a federal agency doing a search, one accompany by a local investigator.

You know that what you're doing like you you know that you you've been defraying folks, this church in and all these people, these organizations, for all this time. But like I said, he was just cools a cucumber. I didn't want to pull her into any kind of statements. I'm just because I was this case now and I probably wouldn't done that there even if I was you know, I was running and I wouldn't have done that there. I would had rather had her in an interview ring.

So what did you talk about them?

Small talk. Just, how are the kids? What's your day? Like basic stuff? She's more like only other kids are in school.

How long is gonna here? Hi, I know. Could be a few hours. 嗯， i got water. He was just kind like SHE was just calm and SHE didn't worried SHE the contemplative like SHE was angling for the next thing like what was you you going to do with this? That's what I felt from her. But like I said, he was super chilled out, just like we are we're just talking and just having a conversation and you have like ten people just turn up your house, go into your closets and floors and you own your wear draw like you don't need to go in there. He wasn't concerned at all.

What does that tell you about who a Manda is? The fact that he was like that.

well, because he probably had the assistance of exam acs or something in inner system SHE may have had like a legitimate anxiety, knowing every day is the scheme. Every day is a show. It's an act.

He has to keep this up. It's like that movie or the truman show where SHE knows she's being. Video, that's the difference. Like, so everywhere he goes, everyone SHE me. She's got ta keep with this story line.

SHE has to study the story line SHE and I think the blog helps her kind of keep track that where he was out with IT because he had to be accurate with what she's putting out public key rank because some he's going to ask her, hey, so how was hospital you this or that? How was this medication? How she's got to have that answer and ready to go so lurch, he's an actress in a damn good one.

Her game was so good, he knew that he had to keep his face because if he was gonna worry, then she's falling into that. You the acceptance of IT I here going down now, right? And you're telling people just with your body language, just like you tell people with your body language that you're sick.

So he has that down. SHE had IT down, and she's been doing IT for a long time. I just felt like chea right now. This is gonna low over. He is gonna out of this.

Talk to us about what's going on .

inside your house.

Look, what about your wife and allegations that she's been raising money but doesn't have cancer.

Can you talk to us about that?

We all thoughts of curry. I felt he knew what was going on and his part of the act was to play as if he didn't know, oh, my hope. Oh, oh my god. Oh, she's not too, I thought. And his had he had been doing this for a while, too, and that was, the other thing is the step daughter wasn't convinced, he was said, and kids, I have an instinct about parents.

I think he sense that, like, whether that he knew what a real cancer victim look like, or I think SHE felt the dishonest sy, the in authenticity of the whole scene the day to day like IT was probably just being played out on the stage. This is her stage. Now you're one of the characters on her stage.

But here's the man that she's a full back mode. You know, when somebody is fake crying, or fake emotional oer or fake nice kids have that sense about and this girl was pretty consistent about her not being truthful. I could see where he got at france when I was talking to man as he was.

Her response was not consistent with what was happening. IT was fake concern, like, oh my god, where are the kids? Gonna make IT to school, okay. And oh, really, I mean, you know, when somebody y's faking, but I knew he had to stay without role.

Well, st, all this was going on. AManda was still putting the cancer thing out there. Shortly after the RAID SHE took to the stage again. This time at her school, students gathered to listen to her as SHE showcased her cancer struggle and how IT deep end her relationship with god.

God is always with you in his timing, not yours. And IT doesn't matter if your glass is half full or M T. What matters is what your glass is filled with is IT filled with god's things, or world's worries. God didn't give me cancer. God prepared me for cancer.

And he was still taking nci to court.

Roman of Riley filed a civil harassment restraining order against me and using A A bunch of extremely exaggerated claims in the request for civil harassment restraining orders. These are some of the things that they they listed. The harassment is ongoing and is targeting miss White spouse as well. This muscatel has made calls to mister ryley s employers and others in order to to threaten and harass him.

Miss muscatel access secure court records regarding mister riles pays, tubs and family court case this harassment and invasion of privacy has cause serious emotional distress and is interfering with the ongoing family court case is muscatels actions have caused AManda rally her employment previously, israeli has a new employer and is fearful of further actions risking her employment. The new employer has been unwilling to announce this ryland's position due to this matter. Miss muscatel is harassment has been an ongoing pattern of behavior for over a year.

He was contacted by mister Riley's x wife and an attempt to cause problems with an ongoing family law matter regarding their children. A man to rally was diagnosed with and beat cancer. However, miss muscatel o has been claiming and investigating that miss Riley never had cancer and was a fraud.

This has caused miss rally to lose her job and put her in fear of losing her new position as well. And would never say it's harassing. She's putting herself out there.

She's putting herself out there via her work or core. Everything revolves around the cancer. So to fact check IT, you have to ask questions. You have to contact people.

you have to. But she's accused in you, you making her having to resign from her jaw.

Yeah, I was like, wow, like you have just up this big time because, you know, in my mind, i'm not doing anything wrong. I'm doing this for a very long time. I am thora and i'm careful and I am respectful.

When I sort of reading through IT, I was like, well, this is all made up, like this is all bullshit, right? This will be easy because I didn't do any of these things. I knew he was desperate. I knew that this was a desperate attempt to silent me. I did get rid of me because I think he thought that I would be easy.

Did IT deter you in anyway?

Oh, no, no. If anything, that made IT IT made IT extremely personal. I was like bringing on.

Commander is hosted and produced by me charlie webster and produced by jack on a clean AManda's blogg post are red by .

actor .

candle horn Peggy AManda's mom is red by actor jill mary hofman edit and thin music by neo para ller assistant producer casey, her assistant editor see a gray wall additional production support from Steven slater will heel and the call urban executive produced by me, charlie webster and Nancy mosby tello sander is a lies gates sound production engineer by filling media group.