Fertittas Walk Away From Xyience & Xenergy With Big Red Buyout

By: Rich Bergeron

Inside sources at Xyience, Incorporated broke the news to me last week that the company would soon be sold off to Big Red, based in Austin, Texas. Employees will apparently not be receiving severance packages, and early indications are that the beverage company buying out the brand will not seek to enter into the supplement business. This means only the Xenergy line of energy drinks will remain under the Xyience label. I held off on publishing the news immediately due to a promise of more intelligence if I let it go a few days. Then, the Las Vegas Review Journal forced my hand today with THIS REPORT.

The sudden washing of their hands of the former supplement giant known for sponsoring Chuck Liddell in happier days is par for the Fertitta course. It comes as no surprise that Lorenzo and Frank would bail on the company in this fashion. It certainly is ironic, though. It was actually disgraced Xyience Founder Russell Pike who originally came up with the idea to hype up the Xenergy line in the hopes of selling it to a major bottling outfit. Pike wanted Pepsi or Coke to come in with a multi-million dollar offer to take over Xenergy and transform it into a wholly unique company. The Fertittas obviously fell short of that lofty goal (maybe it had something to do with something Dana White once said), possibly banking on their Galveston, Texas roots and other family connections in Texas to ink the new deal that allows them to walk away from this boondoggle.

Other whispers from the final days of the Fertitta-run Xyience indicate that marketing studies showed Xenergy is being sold to more mainstream non-UFC-fans than ever. This reality also means the end of UFC sponsorship deals with Xyience and Xenergy.

One thing the company managed to do well over the last few years is in the realm of building distribution agreements for their sugar-free energy drink. Since the heady "Monica" days at Xyience, Xenergy's always been easier for the company to market than the supplement lines. Insiders who are aware of the Fertitta walkout point to profitability, or lack thereof, as an issue for the whole conglomerate. Lorenzo Fertitta in particular, one of the principles at Fertitta Enterprises (which holds the official, albeit obscured, ownership position over Xyience), is reportedly growing tired of losing $5 million a year.

This is the end of another monumental scam for the Fertittas, who just barely escaped serious liability in a lawsuit brought against them by the U.S. Trustee in bankruptcy court. The scheme that drove Xyience just far enough into the ground for the billionaire casino barons to take the whole thing over is now officially in the rear view mirror of their Rolls Royce. The roadmap's been painfully obvious to people like me from the very beginning, but somehow the local boys made good managed to avoid culpability and accountability for the mess they ultimately left behind by their selfish actions throughout the whole process. Let's not forget the hundreds of innocent shareholders who saw their investments turn to dust thanks to the way the Fertittas swept in and turned the whole operation into another sad example of vulture capitalism.

Though I took some small consolation from Fertitta Attorney Greg Garman telling a judge at my final hearing that my reporting has caused his clients multiple headaches with the gaming authorities in Nevada, it is even more comforting to know the Fertittas never could get Xyience buzzing again under their leadership. Maybe they will finally come to realize they would have been better off doing everything above board. I know, fat chance on the "Come to Jesus" moment ever happening for these scum-of-the-Earth con artists.

The bottom line is there won't be any former Xyience investors waiting for the final closing of this deal to cash in on what they put their life savings behind so many years ago. The Fertittas will be another couple of fat cats getting fatter when they deposit the final checks that bail them out from this disaster they constructed and created out of sheer, callous greed. Perhaps it will all go to pay for another yacht, another private jet, or another summer getaway they can jet off to when everyday life gets too real. Whatever the final sale price is, it is a crying shame that none of it will go to the honest folks who actually put the brand on the map with their hard-earned money from decades of the kind of hard work the Fertittas themselves will never be able to relate to. Whoever said liars and cheaters never win probably never met Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III.

We'll have more details as they come to light on this blockbuster transaction.  

Smoking Gun Evidence that Bergeron Case Was Unfounded in Law or Fact

The above email chain dates back to the beginning of the $25 million Xyience lawsuit filed against me in Las Vegas District Court back in 2007 by Attorney Jamie Cogburn. These exchanges came from an email recently sent to me by the brother of Xyience Founder Russell Pike, who is currently incarcerated due to a conviction for tax evasion. I will be publishing a large cache of other insider emails in the near future.

At the time these emails originated, Pike was working feverishly to get more investors to come in to keep Xyience viable. My reports were making those efforts nearly impossible. The lawsuit described investors willing to enter into financing with Xyience, but only if my articles were removed from the Internet. As soon as the case resulted in a preliminary injunction against me, Russell Pike sent a representative out to deliver copies of the injunction order to local investors. This rep wrote the following statement in an affidavit I filed in my counterclaim:

The Fertittas always denied through their attorneys that they had anything to do with the suit against me, but it's obvious from this testimony that they forced Xyience's hand. Dana White didn't end up investing anything, but before Fertitta Enterprises went through with their loan package they did get White's approval.

This email chain will be the main exhibit in a new case against Attorney Cogburn in Nevada. There will be much more to come on this front in the days and weeks ahead. Stay Tuned. 

Xyience Dismisses Claims Against Rich Bergeron; Accepts Summary Judgment on Counterclaim

orderdismissingcaseacceptingclaimxyience

By: Rich Bergeron

It's been a long time, but even a six-year legal battle did not deter me from continuing to report the truth about the history and current operations of Xyience. Today I can look back knowing I finally managed to get the claims against me completely dismissed. Four different judges oversaw the case over those six years, and multiple law firms and attorneys for the opposition.

The above order also allows for a summary judgment request on my counterclaim against Xyience to go unopposed, so it marks the first major judgment on my behalf in any legal action I've ever been involved in. It's all the more impressive since the opposing lawyer admitted the now-dissolved $25 million case against me had no merits.  

Though this order officially releases me from any liability and confirms my efforts to expose the truth, it does not end the litigation entirely. I still have an extensive sanctions motion in play with multiple affidavits supporting that motion. My own affidavit and evidence files explain the whole situation, but after a September 19th, 2013 hearing I can honestly say I don't think that presiding Judge Lloyd King bothered to read any of that content. 

Judge King certainly did not even consider the fact that the judge prior to him (Judge Mike Nakagawa) allowed me to amend the motion for the record. Judge Nakagawa would not allow me to amend a motion which had already been decided, which was the contention of the Fertitta lawyers going into this hearing.

The hearing resulted in an indefensible decision I will appeal to the 9th Circuit. That hastily-made ruling proved Judge King is biased against me to the point of believing everything the opposing lawyers contend, even if it happens to be a lie. Judge King actually made the effort to locate and read out loud an order on the motion before him, and that moment will be a major basis for my appeal. If it was a "senior moment" for the aging federal judge, his capacity to continue in such an important judicial role should be seriously questioned at this stage of his career. 

Now, I'm no law school graduate, but the last time I checked a summary judgment denial is not in the same legal ballpark as a complete claim dismissal. How could any acting federal judge get as far as Judge King has without knowing the difference between those two distinctions? 

Judge King read the decision on a 2008 summary judgment request in my case like it was a smoking gun for the Fertitta lawyers during the September 19th hearing. The motion he referred to is actually the most viewed document I currently have on Docstoc.com and can be accessed HERE. The Fertitta lawyers also tried to represent at the September 19th hearing that the same motion was dismissed on the merits, but the actual dismissal order concludes the dismissal is mandated by technicality, because I did not properly serve the motion on all creditors involved in the bankruptcy. I would have had to file my own bankruptcy petition in order to pay the postage alone on such notifications. I don't have the kind of budget most lawyers and law firms typically bring to the legal process. Everything I do is fueled by extremely minimal financial resources. 

So, Judge King read this order denying summary judgment on my sanctions claims. He read it right out loud in court for the record right after trying to explain that it meant the whole issue had already been litigated and dealt with. Why even have a hearing in the first place if his conclusions were true? If he reviewed the record and came to the decision that the Fertitta lawyers were correct in their false representation of the record, there would not even be any basis for holding the hearing where he made this huge mistake. I immediately corrected him at the hearing, but that only made things worse for me. He continued to betray an overwhelming bias against me along with a willingness to praise and commend the opposing lawyers. He even rejected a legally feasible and logically sound request for a default judgment against all parties who did not answer the claims and did not have any representation at the hearing. 

I gave Judge King multiple chances to hold a more comprehensive hearing when I could physically attend, asking for the hearing on September 19th to be considered a scheduling conference. Instead, he allowed the telephonic appearance to be my final say in the matter, and I had a great deal of issues with the court hanging up on me and not being able to hear me clearly. Judge King couldn't even be bothered to come up with any official legal background for his denial of my claims. He left that up to the main opposing attorney and his law firm. 

Gordon Silver is a high-class Las Vegas law firm, and the main guy they put on this case is a managing partner named Greg Garman. This shark is a well-trained and experienced lawyer with a very esteemed position at his firm and in the legal community. So, how could he really confuse the record himself to the point that he put such incredible misrepresentations in print and then repeated them in open court after I corrected him in my reply brief? The most logical answer is that he was never confused at all and just purposely painted the record in a false light to make his case look like it could be easily dispatched on a technicality instead of actually being examined on the merits. Lawyers seem to love winning legal battles on technicalities. It saves them the trouble of actually defending against or pressing claims based on actual facts and evidence. 

This time, the basis for giving Garman the win on a technicality was completely fabricated. His argument that a technicality existed at all made Judge King look like a fish out of water when he tried to take the bait. 

Once again, the September 19th hearing proved to me that justice is an evil bitch. The judicial system in this country is hopelessly bogged down by patronage, abuse, waste, and incompetence. People like me were not intended to be able to even make it this far into the legal process. I jumped through every hoop my opposition put in front of me, and by some miracle I remain standing more than six years into this extensive litigation that went from an obscure district court claim to a major bankruptcy adversary proceeding. I simply could not make it to this point if I did not have the truth on my side. 

Over time I learned to realize that pointing out serious flaws in the opposition's arguments and legal citations did not mean those points would even register with a judge who came into the process as a biased party. I came to appreciate how twisted the system is when it comes to pro-se (self-represented) parties. I knew at some point only an appeal examined by competent and unbiased federal judges would set the record straight. At this point, Mr. Garman hasn't even filed any order to appeal, but I'm eagerly awaiting the moment when I can actually see what the court's official decision will use for a basis in law. 

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the hearing came in the response to my opening comments (which went largely unheard due to a bad connection). Mr. Garman began his statement by confessing that the Fertitta brothers are already suffering due to my work. He did not get into specifics, but he claimed I was responsible for their recent issues with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. If their trouble with the gaming authorities is my doing, I wonder what else about the Fertittas gaming officials might need to know. I haven't even really investigated Station Casinos as much as I have researched the Fertitta involvement in Xyience.  

Garman's remarks proved to me what I've always known in the back of my mind: courts are far too slow at delivering justice. Real justice comes from the court of public opinion. Exposure of inherent evil is often fatal to its ability to fester and grow out of control. Station Casinos has a history of leaving victims behind as the Fertitta brothers continue to hoard their billions in personal assets. As a gaming licensee in Nevada, these casino barons ought to have a much cleaner background than they currently do. The fact that the Fertittas brought Ultimate Poker into legal status as the first official online poker outfit in the state of Nevada is disturbing when you look at what Fertitta Enterprises is really capable of when it comes to fraud. Their connections to the illegal Full Tilt Poker operation through their ownership of Strikeforce is also egregious considering they should have known the illegal status of online poker when they made decisions to retain their sponsorship agreement with the company when it came under Zuffa control. Even worse, US prosecutors labeled Full Tilt Poker a Ponzi Scheme since the outfit's owners were allegedly pocketing player funds. 

The Station Casinos expansion as a management firm into California casinos governed by Native American tribes is even more troubling under the circumstances. Their indirect financial connections to California senators are telling. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also has a son named Key Reid who is on the board of directors for the Fertitta-run Meadows Bank. 

It makes sense that even a federal judge would be afraid to rule against people with this kind of power and access. They are virtually untouchable. Still, Judge King also refused to sanction me despite saying in open court that he actually felt I was the one who deserved sanctions. So, basically he admits he is not willing to even rule in favor of what he feels is actually justified. 

The appeal process should be intriguing, but I also plan to report Judge King to the state bar for displaying a complete lack of ability to do even minimal research into the claims he decided so hastily. The most important development at this stage is regarding my long break from working on this site. The litigation process leading up to my departure from Las Vegas was draining and stressful, and I needed a break from all of it. The hearing designation and dismissal of all claims against me opened new doors and brought me back to the heart of the story and the need to expose the real truth here. 

With no legal obstacles, I can now pursue a non-fiction book project on the case. I can also begin to plan out a documentary. At the rate I'm going, such projects will have a better potential to benefit burned Xyience shareholders than any legal action I could possibly undertake. I am also compiling an extensive report to deliver to Nevada, California, and Native American gaming authorities, which could do more to bring the Fertittas to justice than any judge in any court in this land. Someone must show these ruthless robber barons that there is a price to pay for screwing over innocent people and destroying their investments needlessly and thoughtlessly. 

Although I should be disappointed upon losing the decision on the most important motion in my case thus far, I am actually thrilled. My passion for this story is renewed. My prospects for a successful appeal are promising. Judge King's bias was more pronounced than ever at this latest hearing. Over the next few weeks I will be working to revamp this site to include all the relevant information and documentation detailing the irresponsible and corrupt history behind the Fertitta family facade. Stay Tuned for more frequent updates in the days and weeks to come.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

All stories on this site are now free to read with no subscription fee required. I will be spending some time updating broken links on the site in the next few days. This is mostly due to an unfortunate issue with the loss of all customer files hosted on fileden.com. We had a ton of material hosted there that now needs to be relocated to another public server. Some of these files are now hosted HERE. We will make a formal announcement when all bugs are fixed. 

Settling For Nothing: Fertitta Enterprises Gets Off With Slap on The Wrist For Bankruptcy Fraud

By: Rich Bergeron

      It always amazes me to see how much history repeats itself. Nearly the same scene that's depicted in the photo above unfolded at the Fertitta-owned Red Rock Resort and Casino recently. This time around, the banquet featured the entire current crop of Xyience employees celebrating a new settlement agreement to end the company's bankruptcy battle with the trustee's counsel Jon Backman.

    The settlement is disappointing when you look at how long the proceedings dragged on and how much promise there seemed to be in taking the Fertittas to trial. My own relationship with Mr. Backman was sometimes contentious. I often asked him what could be done for the shareholders.  He always told me they would probably recover very little or next to nothing. I pressed my own motion to suspend the bankruptcy before Backman took the case on for Trustee David Herzog.

     There were times Backman seemed to be doing whatever it took to seek justice while at other times I saw the stereotypical lawyer in him. Eventually I grew to understand he was in a tough position, but he amassed a catalog of evidence that began to build momentum leading up to the trial. He won a sanctions motion that he now has to scrap his rewards for to get a lowball settlement approved. Apparently, Backman didn't want to take his chances fighting the case in court, and he eviscerated his chances to prove that case in the settlement motion.

     Reading some of those sentences came as a real shock to me. The language had the tone of someone writing with a gun to his head. I attended a hearing in Las Vegas where Backman wiped the floor with his opposition: Attorney Greg Garman. The tide seem to be turning in the case, and my own experience with Garman led me to believe he really had no idea why his clients should have to pay for stealing the company out from under the shareholders. He knew the law, but he he didn't seem to know the case that well. He certainly didn't grasp the real circumstances that made this bankruptcy a borderline criminal conspiracy.

     Paying out anything to the trustee came at a price for the Fertittas, I suppose. I wouldn't doubt the negotiations featured discussions on how the settlement motion would be written to absolve the Fertittas and their employees of all possible implications of guilt or culpability. Just like the gangsters in suits depicted in the photo above, the Fertitta brothers have to appear respectable and spotless in the public eye while running their rackets behind the scenes.

   Mr. Backman seemed ready for trial recently, and he let me know at one point that I'd probably read about it in the papers before he could tell me how it was going. He didn't quite get that one right, because I'm the one writing about what happened rather than reading about it anywhere. If I weren't around, the Fertittas might have slipped this one right under the radar. That's unfortunate, but it's the world we live in. Thanks to people who continue to look the other way and let crooks be crooks, crime really does pay for gangsters in business suits these days. Just take a few hours and sort through this blog someday. Research the Fertitta bloodline. 50 cent was over at Floyd Mayweather's gym Tuesday being a ham for the cameras, but if he really wanted to find out how to be a gangster he should have been talking to Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III. From their machine gun-toting security details to their stubble-ridden tough-guy mugs, these guys are the picture of organized crime in Las Vegas evolved to a totally new dimension.

   It really is depressing to see a company stolen right out from the investors who built it, but even more disgusting is how the Fertittas are planning to fold Xyience into Zuffa. They are literally and figuratively driving it like they stole it.

Russell Pike (parody)

     The company's current PR staff even made it a point to disavow any connection to the company's original founder, Russell Pike, when Pike was recently convicted of Tax Evasion to the tune of owing an estimated $1.5 million to Uncle Sam. Pike will be sentenced in July. By then, the Fertittas will be making millions emulating his original model of doing business: sponsor the UFC's fighters and the UFC to sell more low-rate supplements and other assorted overpriced items. The only thing they didn't do that Pike did was seek investors. The Fertittas and their insider friends wanted all the spoils for themselves. The UFC brass wanted a supplement company tied to the organization for a long time. Now they have one.

Xyience "Round 2" will flash the new marketing model at us all on free television soon by posting the Xyience logo back in the middle of the mat once again on May 5th for the UFC on Fox 3 card. It will be the first time the company's held that position on the mat since I helped expose how the Fertittas created a false bidding war for the middle of the mat space. Xyience defaulted on a multi-million dollar payment plan for that ad space while they were steaming toward bankruptcy, and the Fertittas had to know the company couldn't meet the terms of such a deal when they put ink to paper on it.

Money coming out one Fertitta pocket and going back into another would be a common theme through the case, and I kept finding new areas where the Fertittas found ways to pay themselves without any intention of their moves ever being made public. Yet, even when I exposed much of this behavior, they managed to get away with it all and did not even have to suffer a real civil penalty. These guys have become the kings of insider dealing, influence peddling, and lawyering up to beat the band.

      Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta managed to erase billions in Station Casinos debt through the bankruptcy courts, and they bought all their over-leveraged properties back for a bottom dollar bid at the tail end of the process. They used Xyience as a trial run, an experiment of sorts. It wasn't long before the lesson learned came to be: bankruptcy can be extremely profitable if you play the game correctly. I arrived in Vegas on my last trip out during a time period where Station Casinos was still on the way out of bankruptcy. They were advertising a car a day give-away. Later on I read some reorganization paperwork that showed Station Casinos simply defaulted on the payments to the dealerships involved. The dealerships no doubt wrote off the losses as part of their insurance program, and the folks with the free cars made out like bandits. It's the kind of magic that can only happen in Las Vegas.



This is why the Fertittas themselves are very rich individuals who always make the Forbes list. This is what business-suited gangsters do. There's nothing better than selling something you got for free. As casino owners, the Fertittas must maintain a resolute appearance as upstanding young men who are law-abiding citizens. Billions of dollars could literally be at risk if they were ever caught up in any kind of criminal charges. Bankruptcy fraud seemed like a fair charge when I first levied it against them with a motion to suspend the bankruptcy. Their juice and my lack of an attorney led to a judge paying my motion no heed. The Fertittas steamrolled the company through bankruptcy with relative ease. It was like a bank robbery broadcast on national television where a million tips come in because everyone knows the robbers. Yet, nobody gets cuffed in the long run. Nobody is told to pay for their transgressions or provide any relief to those who suffered through these long years hoping something tangible would come out of the court process.

 I currently have a motion seeking $150 million in relief for sanctions against a wide array of parties implicated in the bankruptcy. There has never been an appropriate hearing on that motion, and it would require a ton of testimony to do it right. It's not a task I take lightly, and it would be a gargantuan effort to bring that hearing to fruition. Still, I am determined to do what it takes to play my part in this and provide whatever shred of justice I can.

Xyience Bankruptcy Hearing Yields No Decision On Sanctions For Now: Lorenzo Fertitta Suit May Be In Pipeline

By: Rich Bergeron

CLICK HERE FOR AN ARTICLE ON THE LATEST LEGAL WRANGLING IN THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL

An adversary case filed in Nevada bankruptcy court by the trustee's counsel for Xyience against Fertitta Enterprises, Zyen, and Zyen's General Manager William Bullard is suddenly getting very interesting. A contentious hearing Friday, October 30th in the case addressed a sanctions request for discovery violations. The hearing gave way to suggestions from Trustee's Counsel Jon Backman that Lorenzo Fertitta could be named in an entirely new future complaint as a result of what his recent, last-ditch discovery efforts uncovered.

Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King seemed to take some limited interest in the sanctions motion and made some remarks indicating he agreed with Backman's factual take on the situation. Still, he made no final decision on the motion and asked for supplemental briefs from both sides regarding the procedural technicalities involved. Judge King also indicated that a follow up hearing featuring witness testimony would likely have to be held to determine the direction and breadth of any sanctions that could possibly apply. The judge also later set a proposed trial date for the existing case in April, 2012.

Despite what Backman described as harsh conditions for collecting evidence, he explained to Judge King that what he did find so late in the game changed the whole direction of his case. Backman argued that the lack of cooperation from his adversaries made the case far more difficult to deal with. The real tragedy, he explained, is the evidence that's just impossible to uncover. "We're never going to see those emails," Backman lamented about a situation in which he sought official Xyience email servers his adversaries somehow could not produce despite rigorous attempts to force them to. "There's nothing left to compel production of."

The complicated scenario that led to the sanctions request left both sides in the legal wrangling claiming the other was being unreasonable. A previous article previewing this hearing explains the nuances of the trustee's claims. Missing and now impossible to recover email communications are at the center of the controversy. A Fertitta right hand man of sorts, William J. Bullard, became public enemy number one for Attorney Backman at Friday's hearing.

Bullard is the General Manager of Zyen, LLC, formed as a Fertitta Enterprises subsidiary to provide a loan to Xyience. Once in the chief lien position over Xyience, the Fertitta side company quickly foreclosed on the debt. Zyen then became Manzen and assumed control of Xyience after the company declared bankruptcy in early 2008. Manzen was actually a combination of the Fertitta group (Zyen) and a company made up of four individuals named Manchester Consolidated. The combined parties coordinated to enter into a payment program in order to allow Manchester to appear to be buying the company out of bankruptcy. The monthly payments from Manchester eventually stopped coming in, giving control of Xyience back to Fertitta Enterprises once again.

To add another layer of intrigue to the complicated scheme, Machester Consolidated consisted of a total of four people with two of them being former executives of Cott beverages. Cott is the manufacturer of Xenergy. Had the bankruptcy resulted in another ownership group acquiring the company, Cott might not be guaranteed a chance to continue doing business creating the company's popular drink product that touts itself as the official energy drink of the UFC.

Friday's hearing discussed emails, some of which were only discovered after the trustee had to resort to delivering a subpoena to Gordon Biersch, a brewery and restaurant chain also owned by the Fertittas and managed by Bullard. Due to what he described as a painstaking process, Backman eventually did get a hold of some crucial emails, including one he described as "one of the hottest smoking guns I've ever seen in litigation." Fittingly called Exhibit G, the email between Bullard and Lorenzo Fertitta mentioned a $150 million offer for the purchase of Xyience from the Cott Corporation. The date of the email was aligned very closely with the first $12 million in financing the Fertittas provided to Xyience to gain control of it down the line.

The offer, if company officials capitalized on it, could have helped Xyience shareholders recover some value for their shares. Instead, it seems the Fertittas were intent on locking the shareholders out at the first opportunity they could, refusing to hold scheduled shareholder meetings and neglecting to pay the first interest payment on their loan with company funds. Hundreds of shareholders lost nearly all hope of any recovery when the Cott offer morphed into a scheme involving former Cott executives and their associates pretending to purchase the company for $15 million as a "stalking horse bidder" in the bankruptcy.

Coincidentally, I have a pending motion in these proceedings under my own adversary case which seeks $150 million in relief to be granted to shareholders burned by a campaign to silence my reporting that was trying to bring the whole Fertitta scheme to light. At the time I filed that motion I had no idea this smoking gun of an email existed, but it certainly fits a pattern I've described time and again for my readers here and at xyiencesucks.com in intricate detail.

Traditional mainstream media surrounding the sport of MMA and the world of finance is really missing the boat when it comes to the meat of this story. Yet, even a publishing entity that painted the Fertittas in a more positive light in the past picked up this vein of the tale surrounding Backman's sanctions request. Forbes Magazine didn't afford the trustee's attorney the courtesy of spelling his name correctly in the piece, and the author falsely asserted there is formal mediation involved in the case, but they did make an attempt to tell the story's most important points.

Forbes didn't send anyone to the actual hearing, though. None of the local papers had reporters there, either. It was not hard to find a seat in the courtroom. This is a story that's still unfolding in a controlled environment of sorts, so damage control for the Fertittas and the UFC so far has been fairly limited.

Backman is on track to make this case into much more of a spectacle if he indeed names Lorenzo Fertitta in any future complaint. The subpoena of Gordon Biersch's email server information led Backman to some documents he professed to never seeing before, documents that could pinpoint Lorenzo Fertitta's role in the conspiracy to bankrupt Xyience and defraud the company's shareholders and creditors.

"Whole cases can turn on single documents," Backman reminded the judge in open court on Friday. Getting a hold of the evidence that turned his case in a completely new direction added enormous excess costs for Backman to absorb on a case he took on contingency. These very documents, had Backman acquired them earlier, could have allowed the estate to make much more progress in the complicated litigation surrounding the estate at a much earlier date in the process. Instead, Backman now has to backtrack and reflect on the countless hours of wasted time spent chasing down company email servers he could never actually obtain.

The destruction, loss, and/or failure to preserve these servers and hard drives sought by Backman leaves a gaping hole in the case. The frustrating scenario caused irreparable damage that Backman had some trouble fully quantifying for the judge Friday. During much of his argument before the court, Fertitta Attorneys Gregory Garman and Joel Schwarz busily took notes, whispered to each other, and appeared to be genuinely agitated by the accusations against them and their clients. There really isn't much hard evidence of a driven, purposeful campaign to destroy the evidence in question, but the situation is about as suspicious as it could possibly be.

Attorney Garman explained away the accusations from Garman as "outrageous" and personally referred to Exhibit G sarcastically with the same "smoking gun" label Backman applied to it. Garman provided a basic timeline and list of efforts he personally undertook to assist the trustee in finding evidence. He vehemently disputes the claims that his actions constituted the hindering of Backman's discovery efforts. Instead, he explained that he did everything in his power and his clients assisted to the best of their abilities to voluntarily provide every shred of evidence they possibly could. Garman, at one point citing his high blood pressure, seemed clearly disturbed that his reputation might take a hit because of this case. Deep into one of his rants about how cooperative and misunderstood he is, he actually had to apologize when he almost uttered my name instead of Backman's.

Even though Garman is an expert litigator and an excellent speaker, Backman's accusations and evidentiary support are clearly bothersome for the Gordon Silver attorney. During my own past interactions with Garman he's come across as overly concerned about how others perceive him professionally. He told me himself at one point earlier this year that he considers the Fertittas one of his least significant clients, but at this point the task of protecting them and their associates seems to be causing him some "xtreme" stress. He even asked the judge for a recess and extra time afterward to argue more points surrounding his purported cooperation with the discovery process that he felt Backman misrepresented. Traditionally, a lawyer bringing a motion introduces it, the opposition gets a chance to refute the claims, and the moving attorney gets the final word. Garman's protests led to another round of back and forth at this hearing, and it seemed to expose the attorney's nervousness.

My personal impression of Garman's tactics--though certainly swayed by my intimate knowledge of the case and his basic character--left me convinced that he is running out of confidence on this one. He let the judge, Backman, and the few in attendance at the hearing see him sweat Friday. Backman, even when he was at a loss for words, came across as perpetually relaxed in his tone, speaking with the conviction of someone who knows he is right.

Backman wore a sharp suit that seemed a little too big for him Friday, but he filled the courtroom with the authority in his voice. He called the evidence debacle "one of the most egregious discovery violations I've ever seen." He seemed to have trouble even fathoming a world where sanctions would not apply to what his opposition's been caught in the middle of. Judge King conceded that there was no question he had the power apply sanctions, but he also said he wanted to know "the source" of that power. There are multiple categories and tiers of sanctions based on certain litigation behavior. Whatever stream of relief is applicable here will be best suited to become the basis for a formal order on the matter. Judge King seems to be thinking ahead about not wanting his order appealed if he sides with Backman.

Backman described the discovery difficulties as a "shocking development" in the case and confessed, "I want this case to be over." He further explained he had no vendetta or personal issues with Garman or his clients. "A serious mistake was made here," he stated plainly at one point.

Garman, in his second crack at a response to the charges against him and his clients, reported that he'd never been engaged in "such contentious litigation." He called Garman's strategy a "fabricated emergency." He insisted Backman's allegations did not mesh with the established record in the case and that he and his clients "did comply" with the discovery process. "I took this case exceptionally seriously," he said before listing off a series of numbers quantifying how many documents were turned over to Backman and when. He argued that some of the same emails Backman recovered from the Gordon Biersch subpoena were volunteered by other defendants in the case on previous occasions.

Garman went on to contend that he's gone out of his way to try to offer Backman concessions in the wake of the discovery mess. He told the court he was willing to expand the discovery process and allow further depositions of key witnesses but Backman refused these options. Garman also spent a considerable amount of time harping on the $150 million Cott offer being insignificant since it never actually materialized.

The question Garman seemed to miss in his explanation of the multi-million dollar Cott purchase offer is why it went away so fast after a meeting between Xyience insiders and the Cott folks in Canada. The deal didn't dissolve for no reason. There's no witness testimony as of this point in this litigation that adequately gives the exact reason why the $150 million offer came off the table and why it's not suspicious that people associated with Cott ended up with an ownership interest in the company anyway. Still, Garman insisted that if there was any conspiracy involved in this case it was "a conspiracy in the light of day" and his clients were open and honest about their intentions and actions.

The record simply doesn't reflect Garman's explanation as the full truth. The shifty approach to discovery adds more suspicion to what's already a clear-cut case of deceptive practices involved in the takeover and bankruptcy of Xyience by the Fertitta group. Garman also made the mistake of calling Former Xyience Co-CEOs Adam Frank and Kirk Sanford cooperating witnesses in Backman's case. Backman clarified that while Sanford and Frank agreed to provide information and evidence without the need for subpoenas and settled their own adversary cases, they are still "co-conspirators" in the case and will be treated accordingly.

Perhaps the most pretentious portion of Garman's argument on Friday was his framing of Backman as being dishonest for not holding up his end of a bargain struck at a previous hearing to split the costs of restoring computer drives that were reportedly destroyed by a system crash at Xyience. The agreement between attorneys came to pass only because the drives were represented to Backman as the ones with the company's crucial email servers contained within them. It turned out the drives were essentially worthless once they were restored and did not contain any email records whatsoever. So, essentially Garman wants full payment on a debt for services provided that were wholly misrepresented by him and his clients.

Judge King admitted not even bothering to read previous filings I presented to the court when it came time for hearings regarding those matters. I came into Friday's hearing not expecting him to give Backman much more of a fair shake. He surprised me when he picked up on a nuance neither side considered up to that point.

Focusing on Bullard's lack of record preservation related to his emails, Judge King pointed out that Bullard was savvy enough to know that being on Xyience's board of directors would require him to fulfill certain fiduciary responsibilities including keeping accurate records. Yet, at the same time, Bullard insisted that he did not save certain material because he did not anticipate being named in litigation. Bullard pointed to the liability issues he would be embroiled in as his reason for not wanting to be on Xyience's board as a formal member. So, the evidence shows Bullard purposely avoided being held accountable for accurate record keeping at one point and yet he still claims not keeping and volunteering crucial emails was an honest and innocent mistake.

Garman did not seem to have any adequate explanation for that reality. He later wondered aloud why both sides were spending so much money on a sanctions motion and requested a trial date at "the earliest possible date." Depending on how dueling summary judgment motions end up impacting the case once they are heard in December, the two sides will face each other at trial the week of April 9th, 2012. Before then, Backman will pursue some other serious evidence issues through additional motions for relief.

It's clear that Backman's approach has Garman flustered and desperate for a rush to judgment before the case gets out of hand. His clients are in a precarious position at this point, and it's not looking like conditions will ever improve. The Fertitta attorney was clearly off his game on Friday, apparently the result of knowing that the longer this case goes on, the worse he and his clients will look in the end.

XYIENCE BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEE FINDS DAMNING EVIDENCE AGAINST FERTITTAS, PUSHES FOR SANCTIONS THIS FRIDAY

By: Rich Bergeron

Forbes dropped a gem of a story on their Web-site on September 13th about new claims leveled at the men who bankrupted Xyience. Allegations brought by the company's bankruptcy trustee, represented by Attorney Jon Backman, point to an effort to hinder the trustee in acquiring evidence in a case against Fertitta Enterprises, Zyen, and Zyen's General Manager William Bullard. What's worse, recent documents in the case reveal that company officials at Xyience and Fertitta Attorney Greg Garman hatched and executed a deceptive plot to hide or deny access to the most incriminating material.

Unfortunately, despite all this dedicated trust lawyer's hard work, the Forbes piece didn't even spell his name right. BACKMAN will ask the court for sanctions this Friday in what could be one of the most important hearings in the case so far.

One man mentioned repeatedly in the documents filed by the trustee recently is Michael Levy. Levy still works as a general manager of sorts at Xyience these days and goes by the title of Chief Financial Officer. Page 6 of a September 1, 2011 sanctions motion describes how Levy reacted to an inquiry about electronic data:

If it were a criminal case, Backman's claims could be considered obstruction of justice. Much of the controversy behind his bold claims is a direct result of the refusal of key parties to turn over critical evidence. A big issue arose when the company servers came into play. Suddenly these crucial servers containing countless emails were damaged after a system crash and would have to be repaired for 10-12,000 dollars. Constant delays seemed to plague the process by which Backman sought to seize and examine these servers and comb them for information pertinent to his case.

Despite the roadblocks thrown up by his adversaries, Backman did manage to find a few nuggets of gold while panning for truth. A company called PC911 handles much of Xyience's computer issues. A technician from PC911 named Chad Stone (and he's not smooth like Keith Stone) admitted to lying to support the case in a signed declaration. The admissions came during a subsequent deposition on May 4, 2011. The Trustee's Counsel called Stone's written declaration "Pure Fiction." Backman went as far as to suggest that if the legal system's design didn't protect Stone, Xyience computer specialist Devin Keays would have a case for defamation against Stone based on his false testimony about Keays. Keays was forced out of the company during Xyience's push to bankruptcy in early November of 2007. Stone falsely suggested Keays was the one to blame for the server issues.

According to the Trustee's September 1, 2011 motion:

During a Times Square meeting on November 15, 2007, within two weeks of Keays leaving the company, Adam Frank and Kirk Sanford told me personally that bankruptcy was the only solution for Xyience. Emails and other electronically stored information from this time frame is crucial to the trustee's case. If there are full backups of the servers available, they may contain some huge bits of communication between company officials like: Former Co-CEOs Adam Frank and Kirk Sanford; Zyen General Manager William Bullard; Fertitta Enterprises Owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III; Fertitta Enterprises Lawyer Greg Garman; and CFO Michael Levy.

Eventually, the company that reportedly had possession of the drives and servers in question analyzed them, and another contracted company provided a detailed report of what they found. Upon looking at the resulting report, Devin Keays informed Backman that the company that checked the drives analyzed the wrong ones and did the work on drives the trustee already had all the information from. Apparently there was some kind of bait and switch game going on. Another Las Vegas based firm examined all the drives and found none of them had any signs of containing email server information. So the electronic information Backman initiated a campaign to discover was never even on the target drives company officials led him to. Was it a simple mistake or a bold-faced lie that led to these developments? The trustee's counsel asserts that it doesn't matter how the mishap occurred, because the evidence shows the company, their attorneys, Bullard and Levy all had a duty to preserve evidence pertaining to the bankruptcy and failed to do so. Backman calls his adversaries' behavior in the situation "by no means innocent or excusable."

Another snippet from the September 1, 2011 sanctions motion filed by Backman in the case explains further:

The motion further alleges that the principals involved in obscuring, eliminating, or inadvertently misplacing evidence in this scenario should essentially know better. At worst, they possibly engaged in this scheme intentionally, with the specific purpose of confusing and confounding the trustee's campaign to discover the truth behind the forced bankruptcy plot. Whatever the case, Backman requests compensation for being sent on the wild goose chase due to the responsibility of the named parties to protect and preserve the electronically storied information that is now unaccounted for. Backman asserts, "...defendants and their counsel repeatedly, routinely, unabashedly, and unapologetically have violated the discovery rules relating to electronically stored information as such rules are set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the controlling case law, and have been for many years."

The trustee's argument makes sense, especially considering the thorough support cases he cites. Whether or not his adversaries physically destroyed or "lost" the information by accident or on purpose, they had a defined duty to make sure the information could be made available for inspection. So, whatever happened to it and wherever it is isn't the point. The fact is the company and their attorneys had an obligation to retain it and provide it when requested to do so. Even if there's no smoking gun to show the disappearance of the information was willfully orchestrated by certain parties, it is incredibly suspicious that this block of communications conveniently vanished.

The primary perpetrators of the questionable conduct associated with the entire evidence debacle, according to Backman, were CFO Michael Levy, Attorney Greg Garman, and Zyen General Manager William Bullard. These individuals acted in a manner that made the server requests and other inquiries harder to fulfill, Backman reports in the September 1, 2011 sanctions motion:

An August 8, 2011 email from Attorney Garman attempts to justify the back story behind the missing evidence. He further explains that he personally participated in fruitless searches for pertinent records that Backman requested. The Garman letter is included as Exhibit 6 to Backman's September 1, 2011 sanctions motion. The final paragraph contains language that indicates how frustrated Garman is regarding the approach of the trustee's counsel. Garman appears to have let his emotions get the better of him when he concluded the letter with the following words:

Backman includes multiple lengthy exhibits with his motion, including snippets of deposition transcripts and other documents that lay a foundation for his claims. Part of one of the later exhibits is a peculiar letter from one of the only Xyience executives I invested any good faith in at the time just before the company changed hands and entered into the foreclosure and forced bankruptcy. William Underhill had a background in restaurant management and actually helped prosecute fraud in his former work experience. Xyience tapped him to take over the company just before the final collapse. He later resigned from the board with a shot across the bow at the tactics used to cause him to walk away so suddenly, and he sent the resignation email on Halloween, 2007. His "reluctant" formal resignation letter speaks volumes with hindsight being 20/20.

Backman's own communication to multiple Fertitta Enterprises lawyers--directed primarily at Joel Z. Schwarz (left)--stood out among the rest as the last exhibit to his motion. The date of the email is October 20, 2010. The tone of Backman's message is one of clear frustration with the way Schwarz and other members of his firm are actively trying to deceive him. Click here to view the most scathing paragraph of Backman's email.

It is clear the email is a result of pent up feelings of mistrust between the tireless underdog Illinois attorney and the big city Las Vegas law dogs at Gordon Silver who are playing on a home court. These same lawyers are likely hoping the judge won't throw the book at them this Friday. That's when he will likely hear more about allegations that these well trained legal eagles avoided their responsibilities to the rule of law and obstructed the trustee's formal inquiries at every turn. A hearing in Las Vegas at the bankruptcy court will allow both sides to present their arguments for or against sanctions to apply here.

Even my name made a cameo appearance in a list of emails said to be "not relevant" to the liquidation trustee's cases. Some of the documents leading up to this last sanctions request lay out the path of evidence perfectly. A previous sanctions motion filed by Backman on August 20, 2011 featured some potent charges and even more nuggets of gold. Exhibits G (an email from William Bullard to Lorenzo Fertitta) and H (an email between Bullard and both Fertitta brothers: Frank III and Lorenzo, Click Here For Part Two) were bombshell findings, and these are the emails that were actually discovered. One can only imagine what hasn't been found yet. Where there is smoke there is fire, and it certainly appears that these guys were ready to barbecue Xyience as soon as the coals were hot enough. The conditions were ripe. There was a way to "muzzle" Xyience Founder Russell Pike according to Bullard in that Exhibit H email message chain from August of 2007. If that's not convincing enough evidence that something's rotten in Denmark, consider the relevant portions of William Bullard's deposition transcript Backman included in Exhibit S.

Friday will be an intriguing day for the trustee if the judge on the case can see the clear pattern of deception involved here. It should be a slam dunk motion, barring any hometown cooking affecting the outcome.

The Lennon Tapes

The following tape is from a conference call held with all Xyience employees who could attend by phone or in the room about what John Lennon, the Xyience, Incorporated President, called a distraction....emails to all employees about the company's past, it's history, and the $25 million suit against me all based on lies...

I just wanted to talk to Lennon, hear it straight from him. I actually told him if I didn't talk to him in person, I'd be talking to him in front of a judge, or something to that effect. Turns out that came true, and that's when we first spoke face to face. Those tapes will come later. For now, listen to Lennon sell the troops a few loose lines about who I am and what I do. The meeting starts about 9 minutes into the recording.

The Dark Tower Vs. The House That Truth Built

By: Rich Bergeron

The First Epistle to Timothy in the New Testament (1 Timothy 6:10) contains the phrase, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil."

This past Monday morning I was invited to the dimly-lit 9th floor of 3960 Howard Hughes Parkway in Las Vegas where the posh firm of Gordon Silver's law offices are located. Lined by tall, stocky palm trees, the path to this ivory tower is a masterpiece of construction in itself. Standing in the shadows of the building housing the legal powerhouse that employs my main adversary in the pending Xyience bankruptcy case, I probably should have been at least mildly intimidated. Instead, a reserved sense of calm righteousness enveloped me as I entered the elevator and said to my fellow passenger, "9, please."

Having spent almost a full month in Las Vegas when I only planned at first to stay a few days, this type of meeting didn't seem probable or even possible when my arrival flight touched down at McCarran Airport on the morning of February 9th. Yet, all of a sudden there I was sitting across from Gregory Eugene Garman, a managing partner of the firm. The meeting room was darker than the lobby, and the dozens of sleek, black leather chairs ringing the gigantic marble conference table were a stark reminder that I was in the belly of a great financial beast. A director of the firm sat next to Garman, said little, and furiously jotted down notes as we talked.

The first order of business was a bit of paperwork: an agreement Garman requested I sign confirming I knew he was not consenting to having our conversation recorded. I dutifully signed it and told both men I had no intention to record the session.

The subject of this little gathering was to hash out a compromise on an injunction proposed by Garman due to my dedicated and somewhat overzealous campaign to leave no stone unturned in a search for the truth behind the scandal that led to the downfall of Xyience, Incorporated. This is a story I've devoted more than four years of my budding journalism career to, and it's one that also kicked off my experience as a pro-se attorney. The latest in a long line of judges who had a chance to impact this case at one stage or another ruled at our last hearing that we should coordinate to create an agreeable order he would then make final edits to. Instead of compromise, Garman seemed more intent on making ultimatums and veiled threats he made a point to characterize as simple realities of the situation. It was obvious to me that my reaction to these tactics frustrated this "Super" lawyer who was likely used to getting his way with other clients who required the services of their own high-powered and high-priced attorneys at meetings just like this one.

The bulk of the time we spent across from one another featured no compromising of any sort, though. Instead, it was more like a debating contest. He toed the party line of the clients who paid him hourly wages to make them look spotless while I rattled off challenges to their credibility and character for him to explain away. Though he purported to have all the answers pointing to his clients being good citizens acting above board in all their business activities, I still managed to elicit some responses that revealed there were many aspects of his clients' operations I seemed to know more about than he did.

The most poignant moment for me, though, was when Garman confessed to being offended by the way I painted him in this blog and elsewhere. Before it was torn down by a biased judge's order in an unrelated case in Indianapolis, I started a Web-site called ScarletLawyer.Com featuring a page devoted to Garman. Garman's head-shot photo with a dark red "L" emblazoned on his forehead was a key fixture of that site. He now makes it a point at hearings to call out that effort of mine as somehow relevant to the current proceedings. The truth is, as he explained in the meeting, the site being gone now doesn't change the fact that he took the photo, the underlying description of his tactics, and many of my other methods of undermining his reputation personally.

I didn't apologize for my actions, as there was no need to. I simply smiled and pointed out how he had characterized me on the stand at the prior hearing as a "professional plaintiff" even though I've never sued anyone to initiate any case. Though part of me felt flattered to be called a professional in a field I consider myself more of an amateur in, I have never actually been a plaintiff at all. I've only ever been categorized as a "counter-plaintiff" which is rarely ever even referred to using that term. The more widely accepted label for someone who brings a cross-complaint is "counter-claimant."

Garman explained to me at one point that the Fertittas--who currently own the re-organized Xyience--are by no means his biggest clients. I took that statement to mean that he had bigger fish to fry and this case was just a nuisance to him. Still, he had a strong list of demands laid out in what he planned to put in his injunction order draft. These stipulations sought to afford his clients the "ultimate" protection he felt he could honestly argue for, even though my experience so far taught me that many of the constraints he was seeking were patently unconstitutional under the circumstances.

For one, Garman wanted all of he documents I testified to acquiring on the sly from Xyience to be returned promptly. If I wouldn't comply, he intimated his clients would press criminal charges. "You'll just have to prosecute me," I finally told him near the end of the meeting when he brought up his plan to go that route for the final time.

Another wild request he made was that I cease all contact with all past, present, and future Xyience employees. When I pointed out some shareholders I maintain regular contact with could be classified as past employees, he said he could carve the shareholders out of the equation. Still, I knew if I were going to go back to writing as he said he wanted me to do, I would have to talk to past employees who were not shareholders at some point. This was yet another demand on the list that I could not agree to.

The most heinous request of all was that I cease contact with all UFC fighters. At the first mention of that request I laughed out loud. I explained I sometimes talk to UFC fighters once a week as part of my work at unlimitedfightnews.com, and barring me from speaking to these individuals would prevent me from doing my job. He later floated the possibility of wording the injunction so that I would only be restricted from discussing Xyience with these fighters. Again, I knew speaking to certain UFC fighters would be crucial to any creative project on this story in the future, so I refused to agree to that condition as well.

Though we often drifted off point and argued the merits of our respective cases outside the injunction issues, we kept circling back to the documents more than any other topic. I think Mr. Garman expected me to be Xtremely intimidated by his insinuation that I could be prosecuted for what he classified as "theft" of that "proprietary" material. He used an analogy of giving me the key to his house and me robbing it, which would most likely still result in criminal charges. The only problem with his logic, I explained, is that it was not as if I took the only copies of these documents off the system. I also have not leaked the documents or used them in any fashion to cause any damage to the company. I simply retained them for background like off the record information obtained from a source. And, I only obtained the documents because I have sources inside the company, sources who know what I stand for and that I seek the truth behind the ongoing corruption there.

The meeting ended when it became strikingly clear that there would be no "middle ground" we could reach and no compromise on the crafting of an injunction that could be made between us. I reminded both men across the table from me at the close of our discussion that I have come this far with very little help and no comparable legal fees to what Garman was getting for his efforts. I re-iterated that he was being paid to present his clients' perspective while I was paying out of my own pocket to put mine on the table. I explained this to illustrate the fact that I had no motivation to lie or make up facts to protect me. My mission is simply grounded in uncovering the truth.

Before we parted ways, we stood in the lobby for a few awkward moments as Garman sighed and took on a look of utter frustration. I seized on that moment to explain I simply had to use the few advantages I had in this situation. Though I did confess to having a certain level of respect for the fact that my opponent was just trying to do his job, that didn't change the fact that I was still undaunted even after going through the gauntlet of all the veiled threats and harping on potential legal remedies they could seek against me if I didn't comply with Garman's demands.

It could all be chalked up as another two billable hours I paid nothing out of pocket for that his clients would likely have to pay hundreds for, which may be no sweat for billionaires, but at this point it certainly must be adding up. I left the dark tower a bit frustrated myself, especially since I'd gone to the meeting expecting the possibility of an actual compromise. Though I did manage to get a formal explanation from the other side regarding every aspect of the case I could think to ask about, I imagined a more productive outcome. Still, I could not be upset or disappointed at all in the long run. Looking back, I could only smile knowing I was never, ever expected to get this far by anyone at the outset of all this litigation. I was sued for $25 million by a corporation, and I didn't have a lick of legal experience when the case was dropped in my lap. I had no money to hire a lawyer then and little hope of winning any judgment or settlement if I fought the case myself.

To even be sitting across from those two lawyers and be treated like a real "professional" attorney was a victory in itself, and it was hard for me not to see it that way. I was every bit the fool for a client back in March of 2007, but four years of the school of legal hard knocks changed my life and the way this story is now perceived by those who take the time to read all about it. Some people put themselves through law school by waiting tables, but I did it through a total immersion experience I will never regret going through. The house that truth built started with one brick, and the cement of my resolve to see it through helped me stack new bricks on top of that foundation. One by one I built that house from nothing into something solid, something respectable, and something my opponents in their luxurious penthouse offices seemed at least for one fleeting moment to envy.

I suppose the journey I've taken is the true embodiment of the old adage "if you want something done right, do it yourself." Having come this far in actual and figurative miles, there is no possible way I can see any stumbling block as a setback. Instead, I see all difficulties now as opportunities, obstacles that will just need a little time and effort to overcome. So, come what may, I'm ready for whatever I need to face and prepared to do whatever it takes to keep up the good fight.

I hope to leave Las Vegas a little better off than the way I found it when I arrived. I hope to stem the flow of corruption by closing up a few streams off the river of scandal that runs through this town. Win or lose, these battles must be fought with all the resources I can possibly bring to bear if the war is ever to be won in any respect. And though the odds are still stacked against me, this is a war that most certainly can still be won.

Xyience Audio Files