Dispatch From The Desert: Xyience Scandal Widens, Prospect of Questions Scrambles Security

Las Vegas and all the grand glory it presents to the world never seem to be enough to impress me. The glitz and glamour, the lights and the noise, all of it is just one giant, monstrous, intricately choreographed sideshow. It's designed at the end of the day to take your hard earned money out of your pocket and hope you waste it on a chance of luck, a chance to spin the wheel and watch it all go bye bye.

There are more than a few people out here on the fringe of the desert who take advantage of that risk taking gene all of us have but so few cultivate and sharpen to a razor point.

I was called a "purported" investigative reporter by a lawyer at my last formal hearing in the case. I decided to show him recently how professional I can really be. I'm digging up more and more dirt as I move along, and it's getting better with each day.

"We love locals" is the motto of the Station Casinos chain just coming through bankruptcy smashingly. The Fertitta family along with the Sartini family own this entity with a company called Colony Capital providing a chunk of huge capital as well.

Colony, owned by Thomas Barrack (at left), and the Ferttittas were the stalking horse bidder in the recent Station Casinos collapse, and for $772 million plus they got their own casinos back with far less debt. The original standpoint had them around $6 billion in debt. The bankrupt it and buy it back strategy worked for Xyience, and bankrupting Station Casinos in the same manner must have felt safe. They had practice.

The fact of the matter is that Xyience is a hole in the desert, and all the old junk of the Fertittas and the UFC is buried down there. I consider this company to have a red-headed step child syndrome, and the culture is to beat that child every time someone isn't looking. The bosses do it, the employees do it, and the owners do it. It happens all the time, so who cares? The shareholders were wiped clean, the creditors are begging for pennies on the dollar, and there's settlement after settlement on the official side of the bankruptcy. The lawyer fees are still likely pretty minimal compared to what they would normally face with more fierce resistance. It's all private as well, so they don't worry about the government butting in.

They TAKE AND THEY TAKE AND THEY TAKE





Now, they're giving away a car a day as part of a Station Casinos promo. I was at a Station casino not long after I arrived in Las Vegas. I was there looking to speak with the President of Xyience, as I heard he was staying there. There was no sign of him, and he wasn't listed under his real name. I did see something interesting while I was there, though. An older gentleman got in a serious argument about charges with the hotel front desk clerk. I was there no longer than 10 minutes when all that happened. I told him to mention the attorney general, and that's when the next front desk lady called me up.

I started to pick apart Xyience and find their flaws from day one, right off the airplane. First there was a cruise around their offices and warehouse facility. Then I arrived in person. Dispatches from within told me what I was doing was working wonders. The staff was meeting about me daily, sometimes having the lawyer down there to discuss it all. The "distraction" I posed was now real, as I was in their backyard suddenly. The judge's stern order in my case that I would have to appear in person for future hearings troubled me. I decided to stay in town and start doing some digging. I wanted to find out what was buried in that Xyience hole in the desert.

When an infected wound starts to get all filled with puss and blood, as disgusting as the act may be you sometimes have to just squeeze the mess out of it. You've got to get the gunk to explode out on the floor, on the wall, all over the damn place. That's what it takes. Fraud is messy, too. You have to squeeze the main players so they will force out the root of the problem. Once you get that nugget of truth and start to run with it, they will start to figure out they are in trouble. Pressing the action and seeking out answers will either result in silence, denial, or lies to cover the tracks. I got silence out of one of the main players I went after.

IS HE IN "THE CLEAR" OR NOT?


Though it seems it is legal to sell some forms of steroids and fighters don't get arrested for testing positive, the legal steroid business still seems pretty shady.

Steroids is a serious issue in fighting. MMA is seemingly sinking to the depths of the WWE with certain leagues allowing steroids to become a major contributing factor to some fighters putting on a good show in the cage. Chael Sonnen's slap on the wrist suspension for testing more than 4 times over the legal limit for testosterone is just the latest in a long line of questionable treatment for athletes who fail their drug tests.

Baseball had Barry Bonds, and he was villified, but MMA athletes don't face the same standard in the eyes of many fans. Sonnen, and others like him, are just expected to serve out their suspensions and come back. Boo birds aside, their returns are nearly certain. Why such a different view for juicers in other sports who are left with albatrosses around their necks for life?

Just don't get caught seems to be the mentality that works in MMA. Even if you do get caught, it's a formality in this day and age. The fight happening in Nevada is also reportedly an incentive to juice since the stringent testing standards in other states have been increasing while Nevada has recently been behind on initiating more involved testing. Still, the Fertittas have not yet been linked to any formal investigation regarding providing or selling steroids. The story unfolding now does link the Fertittas to looking the other way when it comes to such behavior, though.

Balco and Bonds were able to sneak under the radar with so-called "designer" steroids. It's tough to tell if that's what is at play in my own investigation. The subject of the inquiry is a Xyience employee we shall call JV, and it fits because he may not be a varsity player at this point. There's no information he's working with the knowledge of the Fertitta family or with the sanctioning of the Xyience top brass, but there is a ton of information pointing to him being involved in steroid sales.

Still, I know the Fertittas and Xyience brass know at this point that they have a person suspected of steroid sales in their employ. This individual has been reportedly banned from going to Wanderlei Silva's gym here in Vegas. While training there, JV was reportedly speaking to a strength and conditioning coach who was "fired" a couple months ago. I am seeking to speak with that individual before publishing his name, but I know who he is and where he trains now. The investigation will continue so I can figure out whether or not this is any bigger than a couple small town Vegas guys peddling roids at a low level. I'll work in the days ahead to establish what type of steroids are involved, who ese might be involved in the purchase of these steroids, and how resistant they may be to testing.

BONUS AUDIO:

http://bit.ly/gmBUwE

http://bit.ly/gZUMTZ



THE LAWYER AND THE GENERAL MANAGER

The Walrus and The Carpenter Are in Panic Mode.

It's funny how one guy can generate so much buzz. While in Las Vegas I thought it to be pretty important to go after the attorney on the case and the general manager for the Fertitta entity that ran Xyience into the ground to promote the bankruptcy. Gregory Eugene Garman seemed on the very verge of shitting his pants when I emailed the lawyer his home address in a gated community out here. He alerted his local law enforcement and his security in the community thinking I was going to show up at his doorstep. I did the same thing to General Manager of Fertitta Enterprises and Zyen, LLC "Dollar" Bill Bullard. The actual emails confirming this are as follows:


Bill Bullard
to me



show details Feb 15 (5 days ago)

Mr Bergeron,

Be advised as a result of your continued threatening and harassing phone calls to my family I have given your picture and name to security at my residence as well as local authorities. Any attempt to approach my residence or make contact with my family will be met with your arrest.

Sent from my iPhone


===========================





Greg Garman (above) to me:

show details Feb 15 (5 days ago)

Mr. Bergeron, security at my residence and the police department have already been alerted to the threat you pose. Be advised you will be arrested should you attempt to obtain access to my neighborhood.

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 15, 2011, at 3:54 PM, "Rich Bergeron" wrote:

> OK, so you're saying now I have to find out where you live to talk to you? Can't be that hard. I found out where Bill Bullard lives.
>
> I'm not intimidated.
>
> Why is it that all you guys are afraid to answer questions? I think it's classic that ONE GUY can cause this kind of panic when I've made no threats. I'm just talking about questions. Obviously you all have something to hide.
>
> Rich


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Questions put real fear in people trying to hide the truth. As much as people will hide the truth, they hate being asked about it constantly. They're always afraid one mistake will topple the whole operation. One way or another, they think they can make sure all the oysters will be eaten by cabbages and kings: