0:01

This episode of Swindled may contain

0:03

graphic descriptions or audio recordings of

0:05

disturbing events which may not be

0:07

suitable for all audiences. Listener

0:10

discretion is advised. How

0:14

may I help you? Yeah, I need

0:16

a welfare check. And

0:19

who are we doing a welfare check? For

0:22

my son. He's been missing

0:24

for two days. His work's called,

0:27

his family's called, I've called, his

0:29

ex-wife's called, and

0:32

there's nobody answering the phone

0:34

and nobody, there's

0:38

nothing. Nobody can get a hold of him

0:40

and then his work called and they can't get a hold of him.

0:43

It's really, really, he just

0:45

doesn't act like this. Okay. Does

0:47

he live alone? He lives

0:50

with his 16 year

0:52

old daughter who is not

0:54

answering the phone or

0:57

replying to a text. And

0:59

the weird part is, I'll just tell you this, there's been

1:01

ATM withdrawals at three

1:04

different ATM. Christine

1:07

Housseth had not heard from her son

1:09

Daniel for several days. This

1:12

was out of character for the 45 year old

1:14

single father. So she contacted

1:16

the police and Daniel's landlord to ask them

1:18

to conduct a welfare check at his Las

1:20

Vegas home. On

1:23

April 9th, 2021, Peggy

1:25

Newman, the owner of the house, entered the residence

1:27

with the friend by her side for support. Immediately

1:30

they smelled lighter fluid and found a

1:32

large burned area in the living room.

1:35

Power tools were strewn about the house. There

1:38

was a chainsaw on the ground and a handsaw

1:41

in the kitchen with quote, apparent blood

1:43

and tissue in between the grooves. In

1:46

the garage, Peggy and her friend discovered

1:48

Daniel Housseth's body. It had been stabbed

1:50

70 times and partially dismembered

1:52

before being set on fire and

1:54

quote, burned from head to toe.

2:00

And we went in to investigate the

2:02

fire, mostly a couple of days old, but there was

2:05

a dead body in the garage. We just found him

2:07

with the homeowner that doesn't live here.

2:11

While first responders secured the scene, they were

2:14

approached by a couple. The

2:16

Guerrero's were looking for their son, Aaron, who had

2:18

run away from home the night before. 18-year-old

2:21

Aaron Guerrero had dated the

2:23

victim, Daniel House's 16-year-old daughter,

2:26

Sierra. They were together from June

2:28

2020 until December 2020, when

2:31

Daniel discovered that Aaron and Sierra

2:33

were plotting to rob him and

2:35

Aaron's parents before running away to

2:37

Los Angeles. Daniel

2:39

House said that they had alerted the Guerrero's. They

2:42

agreed to forbid their children from seeing each

2:44

other again, orders for which

2:46

their children apparently chose to ignore. Surveillance

2:50

video obtained from Home Depot showed Aaron

2:52

Guerrero purchasing power tools, disposable gloves, and

2:55

a drop cloth a few days before

2:57

Daniel's mutilated corpse was found. Footage

3:00

from a supermarket showed Sierra House that

3:02

buying two gallons of bleach and a

3:04

gallon of orange juice. ATM

3:07

cameras also captured Sierra withdrawing cash

3:09

using her father's debit cards. They

3:12

were $1,300 in one day

3:14

until the bank flagged the accounts for fraud

3:16

and froze them. A neighbor's

3:18

security camera watched as Aaron and Sierra left

3:21

the scene in her father's blue Nissan Altima.

3:24

Four days after Daniel's body was found, on Tuesday,

3:26

April 13, 2021, the young couple was

3:30

spotted by cameras boarding a train around

3:32

7 a.m. in Salt Lake City, Utah.

3:35

Sierra and Aaron snuggled, laughed, and

3:37

slept for over an hour. Around

3:41

8.30 a.m., the transit police approached the

3:43

couple to ask for proof of fare.

3:46

Whoops, they had forgotten to pay. The

3:49

transit officer scanned Aaron Guerrero's ID

3:51

and soon discovered that the 18-year-old

3:54

was wanted for murder in Las Vegas, when

3:57

both Aaron and Sierra were taking a

3:59

into custody. And two teenagers

4:02

in custody after police say they were on

4:04

the run after killing a man on Friday

4:06

and one of them is the victim's daughter.

4:11

In Sierra houses confiscated phone authorities

4:13

found what was seemingly a confession.

4:15

It was a video of Sierra and Aaron

4:18

Guerrero lying on the ground somewhere. Welcome

4:21

back to our YouTube channel Aaron says three

4:24

days after murdering somebody. Wow,

4:26

don't put that on

4:29

camera. It

4:33

was worth it. And

4:40

we had sex a lot today. I

4:43

was paying for doing it. No

4:48

bleeding this time. On

4:51

May 25 2022 both

4:53

Aaron Guerrero and Sierra house have pleaded

4:56

guilty to murder with a deadly weapon

4:58

conspiracy to commit murder arson robbery with

5:00

a deadly weapon conspiracy to commit robbery

5:03

and four counts of fraudulent use of

5:05

a credit or debit card. They

5:08

were sentenced on October 20 2022. 22

5:12

years the life in prison with the possibility

5:14

of parole. At

5:17

the hearing Aaron Guerrero apologized. Later

5:20

he claimed he was out of control high on

5:22

LSD at the time. Sierra

5:24

house said on the other hand justified their

5:27

actions. She claimed her father

5:29

Daniel sexually and physically abused her.

5:32

My biological father has traumatized me

5:35

trauma. I still have to work through every

5:37

day Sierra told the judge. Daniel

5:41

houses family denies the abuse allegations.

5:44

After Sierra's mother and Daniel's

5:46

estranged wife Elizabeth Helgeline believes

5:49

her daughter telling the Las Vegas

5:51

Review Journal quote it horrifies

5:53

me that our system didn't take the abuse

5:55

she was receiving seriously before it came to

5:57

this. My daughter was abused by her

5:59

father. That is a fact that

6:02

doesn't excuse all of her actions. At

6:04

the time she was a minor and has taken

6:07

responsibility like an adult, she is

6:09

now facing the consequences like an adult.

6:11

This is the only time I will address

6:14

this during the campaign. That's

6:16

right, the campaign. Elizabeth Helgoline

6:19

is running to represent Nevada's 3rd

6:21

District in Congress in 2024. Let's

6:25

hear her out, shall we? DC

6:27

is full of talkers. They

6:30

promise us a better economy. They

6:33

promise to keep us safe. They

6:36

promise to fight radical liberalism. I'm

6:39

Elizabeth Helgoline and I'm done with empty promises. It's time

6:42

to walk the walk. Elizabeth

6:44

Helgoline, a real

6:46

conservative for Congress. Elizabeth

6:49

Helgoline's 2024 campaign has

6:51

been endorsed by the likes of Roger

6:54

Stone, Steve Bannon and Matt Gaetz. The

6:57

self-proclaimed Christian conservative candidate promises to

6:59

bring common sense to government, something

7:01

she claims she has already proven

7:03

capable of doing. Back

7:06

in 2010, Elizabeth Helgoline, then

7:09

Elizabeth Houseth, became the

7:11

youngest female to be elected a state

7:13

senator in Nevada history. She

7:15

was 27 years old at the time,

7:17

a fairly recent transplant from Oregon. Elizabeth

7:20

and her husband Daniel moved to the Silver State

7:22

after he had lost his job. Six

7:25

years later, she was challenging the incumbent to

7:27

represent District 9, which

7:29

Republican Dennis Nolan had represented for 16

7:32

years as both an assemblyman and a

7:34

senator. It voted yes

7:37

for tax increases and domestic partnership,

7:39

which was much too moderate for

7:41

today's standards of conservatism. Elizabeth

7:44

Houseth promised to move further to the

7:46

right if the people would help her

7:48

unseat Nolan. Dennis

7:50

Nolan's recent actions made it rather easy.

7:53

You See, Nolan Had recently testified as

7:55

a character witness for a former campaign

7:57

volunteer in a rape case. That

8:00

volunteer twenty one year old Gordon Laws

8:02

but ultimately convicted of walking naked down

8:04

the stairs of his home one night

8:06

And two thousand and four, and haven't

8:08

sex with his wife's unconsciously intoxicated sixteen

8:11

year old sister. Gordon. Was

8:13

sentenced to life in prison with parole possible

8:15

after ten years. A rolling that

8:17

was eventually reversed by the Nevada Supreme Court

8:19

and two thousand and eleven. But.

8:22

Before that, in May two thousand and

8:24

ten. while campaigning against Elizabeth How set

8:26

in the primary for the State Senator

8:29

seat, the incumbents Dennis Nolan made a

8:31

phone call. He. Called Gordon

8:33

Losses ex wife, the sister, the rape

8:35

victim and left a voicemail letting her

8:37

know that it would be quote financially

8:40

beneficial for her to consider telling the

8:42

truth. Is

8:47

like having. Much

8:53

going on, A

8:57

very financially beneficial period.

9:01

Joining a try. It's. The. Victim's

9:03

family provided that recording to Elizabeth How set

9:06

of Pasta and on her website for all

9:08

of District Nine to hear. The.

9:10

Rape victim's father also recorded radio ads

9:12

for her campaign. Split kind of a

9:15

person Defense: a child rapist who sexually

9:17

assaults our kids. Vote against Sen Dennis

9:19

Know and tell him the defending child

9:21

rapists is not okay. This message paid

9:24

for by Elizabeth Alceste for State Senate.

9:26

Nice. Needless to say, Elizabeth House at

9:28

one the primary. Then

9:30

unexpectedly she defeated her democrat

9:33

opponent, Or campaign had sent

9:35

out a mailer with a photo of her opponents

9:37

and his wife. Who. Was wearing a

9:39

quote from feeling Evening dress. But.

9:41

The caption. Not. Our values.

9:45

Elizabeth. How set and still her

9:47

conservative family values into the Nevada

9:49

State Senate. For about two years.

9:52

And. She had an affair. Stopped. Attending

9:54

meetings and got a divorce. At

9:57

the time to know how said with a stay at home

9:59

Dad. The boy been married for

10:01

eleven years. They have three kids. Gonna

10:03

had also recently been arrested. It been charged

10:05

with two felony counts of coercion and battery.

10:08

When Elizabeth accused her husband of threatening her

10:10

and trying to force himself on her for

10:12

sex. Daniel House had pleaded

10:14

guilty to misdemeanor counts and was sentenced

10:17

to six months probation and anger management

10:19

classes. But. The marriage was over. And

10:22

so was Elizabeth House has tenure a

10:24

state senator. She. Resigned from repost

10:26

the same year. She was named conservative

10:28

of the Year by Citizens Outreach. The.

10:31

Same year a Las Vegas Review Journal

10:33

poll voted her the worst senator and

10:35

the state. Truly a

10:38

country divided. Five. Our

10:41

ten. Minutes. And.

11:02

Or letter to the Bad as

11:04

Governor Elizabeth How set said she

11:06

couldn't balance the jobs demands with

11:08

being a recently single mother. Just

11:10

such a lead the state as he can

11:13

find a job because of house and portrayed

11:15

in the media. Three.

11:17

Months later, Elizabeth How Set

11:20

was spreading her Christian family values

11:22

on the pages of Maxim Magazine.

11:24

She was a rag dem candidate for

11:26

the magazines Hot One Hundred photo contest.

11:29

In her and three, she wore a black bikini.

11:32

Pretty. Impressive for a mother of three, but.

11:34

The. Only thing elizabeth one was a

11:36

few minutes of the adoration from the

11:39

country's most prolific cologne sample wearing teenage

11:41

boys. speaking of which in

11:43

the years that followed elizabeth how

11:45

at married a man named tiger

11:47

she adopted a surname helga lean

11:50

and a family including elizabeth three

11:52

children from she had been granted

11:54

primary custody moved to alaska their

11:56

the former state senator with a

11:58

real estate agent The

12:00

father of Elizabeth's children, Daniel

12:02

Housseth, also remarried but then

12:04

divorced again. It spent

12:06

some time in Texas for work but

12:09

ultimately Daniel and his ex-wife and kids

12:11

would reunite in Las Vegas. An

12:14

ugly custody battle ensued. Sierra

12:16

Housseth, the young future

12:18

murderer, was caught in the middle. I

12:21

want my daughter back. I want her to

12:23

be healthy again and emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I

12:26

want what's best for her and she deserves

12:28

that. It

12:31

feels like reality TV every time I hear

12:33

Elizabeth speak, the defendant. I have no idea

12:35

why she's saying the thing that she's saying.

12:38

She is doing better, Your Honor. We do

12:40

go shopping. We do have activities together. She

12:43

does talk to her friends. I am monitoring

12:45

her social media. I can see the electronics.

12:47

I don't snoop through her phone and stuff

12:49

like that in a conversation she's having with her mother. Judge

12:53

Charles J. Hoskin was concerned about Sierra's

12:55

recent behavior and relationship with her parents.

12:59

But I saw a lot of things with

13:01

regard to Sierra that causes me some concerns.

13:03

Her inconsistency in the stories, depending

13:06

on who she's talking to and

13:08

when, comparing her interview with the

13:10

Family Mediation Center, with her interview

13:12

with Child Protective Services, it

13:15

indicates to me that something else is going

13:17

on with Sierra. I don't know yet what

13:20

that is, whether that's

13:22

parental alienation, whether that's human

13:24

trafficking, whether that's manipulation.

13:27

And I don't know who at this point is

13:30

to blame for that. But

13:32

I'm less concerned about placing blame than I

13:34

am with regard to this child and

13:37

a child's relationship with a parent. We

13:40

need to get therapy in place at this

13:43

point moving forward, the judge later recommended. I

13:45

haven't gotten to the bottom of what

13:47

is or isn't happening with Sierra, but

13:49

I am extremely concerned with what is

13:52

or is not happening with Sierra. Hopefully

13:55

this is not something one of the two of you are promoting,

13:57

because the lifetime damage to this child is...

14:00

as something you'll have to bear on your

14:02

conscience moving forward. Oppression

14:04

words from the judge. Unfortunately,

14:07

we know how Sierra Houseth's

14:09

relationship with her parents unfolded.

14:11

A tragedy for everyone involved. But

14:14

I'm leading with this story because

14:17

of its coincidental overlap with another

14:19

story that unfolded simultaneously. When

14:21

Elizabeth Houseth resigned from her seat as

14:24

Senator of Nevada's 9th District in 2010,

14:27

a special election followed, and

14:29

one of the candidates vying for that position

14:32

was a man named Brent Allen Jones, a

14:34

businessman who would soon be at the center

14:36

of a tragedy to call his own. And

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Early in my life, I did all the things the

17:12

society said you should do. I got

17:14

A's in school, went to college,

17:16

got a bachelor's degree, then went to

17:18

law school and graduated from Pepperdine School

17:20

of Law, a well-respected university. I married

17:22

a pretty woman, started a family, and

17:24

practiced law. In fact, in 1995, I

17:27

was voted Best Lawyer and Inventor at

17:29

County California by the Business Digest magazine.

17:32

Looking at my life from an outside

17:34

perspective, it appeared almost perfect. The

17:36

truth, however, was that I

17:38

was very unhappy on the inside. I

17:40

would drive to work each day with

17:42

clenched teeth and a super firm grip

17:45

on the wheel thinking, not another day,

17:47

not another day. Brent

17:50

Allen Jones was sitting in his car in

17:52

the parking lot outside Carl's Jr. eating his

17:54

lunch one day in 1993 when a

17:57

random woman walked up and knocked on his window. Brent

18:01

told the Las Vegas Review Journal that he rolled

18:03

down his window and greeted the woman.

18:05

She was a Scientologist. And she

18:07

sold me a book, Jones told the newspaper. Dianetics.

18:11

The woman's timing honestly could not have been

18:14

better. Brent Jones was 30

18:16

years old, working as a lawyer

18:18

in Ventura County, California, and completely

18:20

unfulfilled. Brent claims his original

18:22

dream was to join the Air Force. It

18:25

even attended pilot school but says a rare

18:27

disease that surfaced in high school ruined his

18:29

plans. Instead, Brent went

18:31

to law school. Ever since he had felt

18:34

pretty humble, like he wasn't

18:36

contributing much to his society, he

18:38

had searched for answers in the books

18:40

of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Jesus

18:42

Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Decostalism, even

18:45

a bit of New Age and Eastern philosophy. Nothing

18:48

resonated. Until, that is, he

18:51

read Dianetics, written by some

18:53

guy named Ron. It

18:55

just made such sense to me, Brent Jones told

18:57

the Review Journal. When I started

18:59

to apply these guidelines, these rules, we

19:02

call it the technology. When

19:04

you apply it to your life, things just start

19:06

working better for you. Things

19:09

started working better for Brent Jones almost

19:11

immediately. The Church introduced the

19:13

young lawyer to another relatively recent

19:15

convert, Raul Lopez. Raul

19:18

had suffered a traumatic brain injury eight

19:20

years earlier after a head-on collision with

19:22

a big rig. It took

19:25

him several months to learn how to walk again, and

19:27

at only 19 years old he was unlikely ever

19:29

to be able to work. Fortunately,

19:31

Raul Lopez was awarded a $1.7

19:34

million settlement from the accident. Within

19:37

months, he was approached by the

19:39

local Scientologist. They

19:41

told me they had what I needed, Raul

19:43

recalled to the New Times LA, that if I

19:45

followed the program I could be cured of

19:47

the trimmer and I could be my old self

19:49

again, which is all I ever wanted. The

19:53

Church sold Raul Lopez some

19:55

expensive courses and auditing classes,

19:57

but his mother caught on quickly. marched

20:00

down to the Scientology Center and demanded

20:02

a refund. They were happy

20:04

to oblige. But the

20:06

pursuit never ended. Eventually the church

20:09

convinced Raul Lopez to rejoin its ranks

20:11

but only if he kept it a

20:13

secret from his family this time. They

20:16

completely isolated Raul and

20:18

systematically looted him over the next several

20:20

years for almost every single penny he

20:22

was worth. Church members

20:25

would drive Raul to the bank where he

20:27

would withdraw ten to fifty thousand dollars at

20:29

a time. At one point Raul's

20:31

auditor was even living with him in the

20:33

paid off home that the church would eventually

20:36

encourage Raul to refinance. The

20:38

equity of which was used for other

20:40

Scientology related purposes like loaning money to

20:42

a fellow member in need. For

20:45

instance Raul Lopez loaned three

20:47

hundred thousand dollars to a

20:49

Scientology owned company called RC&A

20:51

which purportedly installed payphones in

20:53

prison. Raul Lopez never received

20:55

a return on that investment. Finally

20:57

he had had enough. Raul

20:59

threatened legal action but church officials

21:02

politely reminded him that it would

21:04

be improper to sue other church

21:06

members. Instead they

21:08

recommended arbitration and set

21:10

Raul up with his own lawyer. It

21:12

was the new guy, Brent Allen Jones,

21:15

at your service. The

21:17

church eventually refunded Raul Lopez to three

21:19

hundred thousand dollars in principle but clawed

21:21

it back from him in different ways

21:23

over time. One of which

21:25

Raul's Scientology assigned lawyer, Brent A.

21:27

Jones, approached his client with

21:30

a business opportunity. Jones explained

21:32

to Raul that he owned a farm

21:34

in southern California where he was breeding

21:36

and selling ostriches. It was big business

21:38

according to Brent Jones. A

21:40

trio of birds could cost between twenty

21:43

thousand and thirty thousand dollars and each

21:45

ostrich egg sold for about one thousand

21:47

dollars. Act quick, don't

21:49

want to miss out. Raul Lopez

21:52

invested about thirty grand. After

21:55

paying monthly room and board for his ostriches and

21:57

providing the funding to build an enclosure for them

22:00

on Jones' property, Raoul Lopez said

22:02

he finally made it out to the farm in late 1994 to

22:04

see the ostriches

22:06

for himself. There was nothing there.

22:09

Jones tells me, your ostrich

22:11

just died. That was it. I

22:14

never even got to know which ones were mine. Brent

22:17

Jones' ostrich business ultimately failed,

22:20

just like all of Raoul's

22:22

other Scientology-recommended investments. By

22:25

1997, his finances were completely

22:27

depleted. Mom, there's no

22:29

more money in the bank, Raoul remembers

22:31

admitting. The family sued the

22:33

Church of Scientology and Brent Jones. The

22:36

case was settled out of court and remained sealed.

22:38

But Brent Jones claims he was unaffected,

22:41

telling the Las Vegas Sun, there was

22:43

no foundation for allegations against me, and

22:45

I paid nothing. By

22:48

the time the Lopez case was settled, Brent

22:50

Jones had relocated his family and his new

22:53

business venture to Las Vegas. The

22:55

new company was called Affinity Lifestyles,

22:58

no ostriches involved. This

23:00

time, Brent was selling water. Are

23:03

you feeling sluggish, old, and tired? It

23:06

could be because your body is dehydrated

23:08

on a cellular level. Most purified waters

23:10

are acidic and as a result may

23:12

be rejected by your body. But it

23:14

doesn't have to be that way. Real

23:17

water is different. It is beyond alkalinity.

23:20

Not just any water, this was real

23:23

water. Alkaline water with a

23:25

pH greater than 8. Not

23:28

only does the water taste great,

23:30

but it would improve your metabolism,

23:32

increase your energy, slow down the

23:34

aging process, improve digestion, reduce bone

23:36

loss, and counteract all the acidic

23:38

things in your bloodstream. Wow.

23:42

Holy water must have already been trademarked.

23:44

My wife has an athletic farm. We've

23:47

tried everything we could. After

23:49

just a month of drinking the alkaline

23:51

ionized water, we found that she's fully

23:54

regained range of motion. Absolutely all the

23:56

pain has gone. Terrific stuff. I'm having

23:58

a cruise energy. My digestion

24:00

has improved, my skin is clear.

24:03

I had a very bad knee. My left knee

24:06

was afflicted with arthritis and

24:09

I had that for about a year and a half.

24:12

And after drinking the ionized water,

24:15

the pain completely went away. Could

24:19

this be true? Is alkaline water

24:21

the answer to whatever ails you?

24:24

Let me ask you this, is water wet?

24:27

Yes, but also it

24:30

could be wetter. That's right, real

24:32

water also advertised itself as making

24:34

water wetter by breaking down

24:37

clusters of water molecules into smaller

24:39

ones through ionization. The reason for

24:41

doing this, the company claimed, is because

24:43

the smaller clusters of water

24:45

molecules full of powerful antioxidants

24:47

could more easily pass through cell membranes to

24:50

enable the body to heal itself. Come

24:52

on people, this is like Science 101. What

24:56

we're talking about here is we're talking about

24:58

a water that will go

25:00

make these electrons making the

25:02

water a negative ionic charge,

25:04

which in essence is a

25:07

free radical scavenger, which

25:09

we would call an antioxidant. So

25:11

we need antioxidants because we live

25:13

in an acidic environment. We live

25:15

with free radicals. We've all heard

25:18

about free radicals. And free radicals

25:20

not only contribute to known diseases,

25:23

but it's a major contributor

25:25

to premature aging. So

25:27

when someone says, you know, I'm

25:30

looking older than I used to,

25:32

we're talking about free radical damage

25:34

and it's really technically called oxidative

25:37

decomposition. Could

25:39

it be a bunch of marketing mumbo

25:41

jumbo? Again, is

25:43

water wet? The Guardian debunked

25:45

most of Real Water's marketing claims in

25:47

that 2011 article, which The

25:49

Daily Beast summarized in 2016, which

25:52

I will now shorten even further and regurgitate

25:54

to you. Gotta love modern media.

25:57

Real Water claims that normal drinking water

25:59

is dangerously. acidic, untrue.

26:01

Normal drinking water contains dangerous

26:03

free radicals, also untrue. And

26:06

real water adds hundreds of millions of

26:08

free electrons to its beverages, impossible.

26:12

But what about all of those healing properties Brent

26:14

Jones has spoused in the past? Our

26:17

government goes after natural products companies

26:19

ruthlessly. If they make any claims

26:21

about their products, they will show

26:23

what gun is drawn, throw people

26:25

in jail, seize bank accounts. So

26:28

it is very important that we

26:30

state emphatically that our products specifically

26:32

cannot and does not treat, cure,

26:35

or prevent any disease. Looks

26:38

like someone is seeing a different tune. In

26:41

the early 2000s, Brent Jones's affinity

26:43

lifestyles company launched a new product

26:45

line without health claims attached. Real

26:47

water remained the flagship product bottled

26:50

for human consumption. But now

26:52

there was also real plant water and

26:54

real pet water. The company also sold

26:56

shower heads that I guess would ionize

26:59

your bathwater as well as $4,000 water

27:01

ionizing machines that allowed for one to

27:03

make their own ionized water at home.

27:06

Every avenue for profit was explored.

27:10

There's a new product on the market that could

27:12

help you get your life

27:14

back. It's called

27:16

Real Electron Energized Prostate

27:19

Aid. Not

27:21

to mention, in those early years,

27:24

Affinity Lifestyles operated as a network

27:26

marketing company also known as a

27:28

multi-level marketing company for direct marketing,

27:31

a pyramid scheme. As if that

27:33

wasn't obvious as soon as Brent the bossman

27:35

pulled out a forced matrix when discussing compensation.

27:39

Let's take a look at these positive features. First,

27:41

a forced matrix is easy to understand.

27:44

If you have been around network marketing

27:46

for any amount of time, you know

27:48

that there are so many convoluted and

27:50

very hard to understand marketing plans. It

27:52

is like the plans are purposely made

27:55

confusing. to

28:00

the branding and business plan in the following

28:02

years would eventually boost real water to legitimacy.

28:05

The company opened a production plant

28:07

in Henderson, Nevada and became a

28:09

more traditional retailer without the MLM

28:11

stench. The company filled

28:13

its new-look boxy blue bottles

28:15

with its self-mixed water concoction

28:17

and slapped labels on them

28:19

advertising beyond alkalinity. A

28:22

scientific impossibility achieved courtesy of

28:24

a proprietary technology called E2.

28:28

Hi, my name is Brent Jones. I'm

28:30

president of Real Water. We're the owners

28:32

of the E2 technology, which stands for

28:34

electron energized. I'm really excited today. We're

28:36

going to explain our product. It's called

28:38

Real Water. Our water is just the

28:40

opposite. It's alkalized and it is an

28:42

antioxidant. It's negative charged. It wants

28:44

to donate electrons. For

28:48

the first time ever, Real Water's

28:50

E2 technology allowed its seven times

28:52

filtered UV light treated negative ion

28:54

infused water to be shelf stable.

28:57

Translation, retail ready. Again,

29:01

just a reminder, there is no

29:03

such thing as negatively ionized water.

29:06

Radio station KNPR confirmed this

29:08

by asking David Hatchet, the

29:10

chemistry department chair at UNLV.

29:13

Real Water's claim is that a

29:16

purification process called, I believe it's

29:18

E2 technology, adds electrons to the

29:20

water through electrical restructuring. Is this

29:22

scientifically possible? No. Yeah,

29:25

well tell that to everyone who was buying

29:27

the Real Water bottles from the company's website

29:30

or the customers who had signed up for

29:32

regular delivery service of Real Water and five

29:34

gallon jugs. You're going to tell

29:36

me that all of these people were simply

29:38

misled by marketing. What's

29:41

next? You're going to tell me that

29:43

there is a Real Water concentrate with the E2

29:45

technology that you can simply pour into

29:47

any coffee tea or wine and make it

29:49

healthier and taste better. Oh

29:52

really? Okay, I'm listening. Well,

29:54

how would you like to take a $5 Bottle of

29:56

wine and transform it so that it tastes like a $30

29:59

bottle? Sounds too good to

30:01

be true. I do you live Driver letter

30:03

concentrates. Just a few scores and your one

30:05

will taste amazing. Aspirin

30:07

Johnson's wife Amy Jones hi,

30:10

I'm. Amy Jones with Real Water. Amy

30:12

was the Director of Communications or

30:14

Executive Vice President of Real Water.

30:16

May be both depending on the

30:18

day. After a few scored

30:20

sprint mamie son blame join the family

30:22

business will. Blame. Jones was also

30:25

Executive Vice President Joe. My name is

30:27

Blaine Jones and I'm the Executive Vice

30:29

President Real Water. By twenty twelve the

30:31

family business was driving as products can

30:34

now be found in Sprouts and the

30:36

Whole Foods supermarkets and the Babbitt, California,

30:38

Arizona and Utah to been in stores

30:40

were starting Real Water on their selves.

30:43

The. Distinctive Blue Bottle and also made

30:45

several candid appearances and tabloids where

30:47

it was being logged or chugged by

30:49

several a with celebrities. Alkaline

30:52

Water and officially hit the mainstream.

30:55

As a result, Real Water started

30:57

sponsoring professional athletes local be a

31:00

masters in skateboarders. The first. Before.

31:02

Branching out the mixed martial arts

31:04

in fact brimmed zones Such an

31:06

enthusiast for the sport. Eventually.

31:09

Created his own Emil May Lead and

31:11

called it Real Ml May. Real.

31:14

Water spotted. a ton of

31:16

the fighters. Get Real Get

31:19

Real Get Real Real Real

31:21

Get Real Get Real. Good

31:25

God Almighty some go water

31:27

get real. Most notably Stephen

31:29

Bonner. The. U S C Hall

31:31

of Famer credited with propelling mixed martial arts

31:33

into the mainstream thanks to a classic bout

31:36

with Forrest Griffin and April Two Thousand

31:38

and Five. Stuff. And Bonner was

31:40

a living legend of the sport. A

31:42

huge get for brand films and real

31:44

water so my favorite use for real

31:46

waters. the bring when it is in

31:48

the gym. Also not a slut on

31:50

like ten pounds and a training session

31:53

whole life and this way to rehydrate

31:55

myself going at the same crimes are

31:57

all that lactic acid as building up

31:59

in my. muscles counter all that

32:01

acidic ammonia that's building up in

32:03

there and get my electrolytes at

32:05

the same time. So if

32:07

a legend like stuff and bonner, the

32:09

all-american cycle likes real water, real water

32:11

would be one for you too. Get

32:13

real! Oh dude I

32:15

drink so much of this I have it

32:17

right off the line too. Usually if you

32:20

have it right off the line like the

32:22

pH is too strong it can give you

32:24

diarrhea but my body's nothing.

32:26

I just tell you drink the

32:28

concentrate straight and they never get

32:30

sick. With real water,

32:32

Brent Allen Jones had built a

32:35

successful for-profit business from the ground

32:37

up. He was intimately familiar

32:39

with the regulatory hurdles and the

32:41

weight of tax burdens shouldered by

32:43

American business moguls like himself. So

32:46

fearless, so selfless, so

32:49

enlightened by the fruit. Naturally,

32:51

Brent Jones the businessman felt

32:54

called upon to pay this knowledge forward. Naturally,

32:57

Brent Jones the businessman felt

32:59

this experience qualified him

33:02

to govern you. The

33:08

following is a paid advertisement for the

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give us your money. The

34:46

delicious ice cold taste of Dr. Pepper has

34:48

a lasting effect on people. Lindsay from Sacramento

34:50

said... Pro tip, 40 degrees is the perfect

34:52

temperature for an ice cold Dr. Pepper. Why

34:54

is 40 degrees the perfect temperature for Dr.

34:56

Pepper? We brought in Sue from Duluth, Minnesota to

34:59

tell us. Oh yeah, I know a thing or two

35:01

about cold. Oh, that right there is the

35:03

perfect kind of ice cold for Dr. Pepper. Mmm,

35:05

I'd share that with my friend Nancy. She likes

35:08

Dr. Pepper too, you know. My coldest... Alright, that'll

35:10

be all, Sue. Having a perfect temperature for

35:12

your Dr. Pepper? It's a Pepper thing. Inspired

35:14

by Real Fan posts. Hi,

35:17

my name is Brent Jones. I'm

35:21

running in Senate District 9, and

35:24

I'm not a politician either, as you've heard many people

35:26

say. I'm a businessman, and

35:29

I just got so fed up with being, I

35:31

like to use the expression, I'm tired of getting

35:33

hit over the head with a 2x4 every other

35:35

week, wondering which government bureaucracy is going to come

35:37

in and just mess with me. And

35:39

it's so hard to create jobs, I felt so many times,

35:41

just like putting my head, and just saying, you

35:43

know what, I should just give up and

35:45

go on welfare. But you know what, if everybody

35:47

started doing that, then we'd really be

35:49

in a problem. We're either going to go to

35:52

socialism, communism, as that nice t-shirt showed

35:54

us, or we're going to take this

35:56

country back and get back to our constitutional

35:58

roots and create a new government. Again, the most

36:01

prosperous country this world's ever seen. When

36:06

Elizabeth House said resigned from her state

36:08

senate seat for Nevada's 9th district in

36:10

2012, Brent Allen

36:12

Jones seized the opportunity. The

36:15

pro-business, constitutional conservative had grown displeased

36:17

with the current direction of the

36:19

state government, which reminded him a

36:22

lot of the draconian policies implemented

36:24

in California, Jones' home state

36:26

from which he had fled to find less

36:28

regulated freedom. Brent Jones

36:30

considered himself apt for the position, because

36:33

again, as he would incessantly remind everyone

36:35

on the campaign trail, Brent

36:37

Jones was not a politician. Brent

36:40

Jones was a businessman. Brent

36:45

Jones promised his district nine constituents

36:47

that if elected, he would ensure

36:49

low taxes, get rid

36:51

of excessive regulations to create jobs,

36:53

and vote to slash the budget

36:55

for public education. Rumor

36:58

has it, Nevada schools were teaching

37:00

since history. Hello, my name

37:02

is Brent Jones and I'm running for state senate

37:04

district nine. I'm not a

37:06

politician, I'm a businessman. I own real water

37:08

and I know personally what it takes to

37:11

deal with make a business successful and

37:13

deal with excessive taxation and excessive regulation.

37:16

Haven't you heard? Brent Jones

37:18

knew personally what it takes to

37:20

make a business successful. He

37:22

employed 40 to 60 people in Nevada

37:25

and Arizona. The Tea Party and the

37:27

Ron Paul supporters agreed he was the right person

37:29

for the job. The poster boys

37:31

for well thought out public policy. Unfortunately

37:34

for Brent Jones, the residents

37:36

of Nevada's ninth district disagreed.

37:39

Jones was defeated in the primary, most

37:41

likely due to a story resurfacing from the 90s

37:43

in which the former California

37:45

lawyer ripped off a mentally disabled

37:47

man with ostrich eggs and Scientology.

37:51

But Brent Jones would not be dissuaded from

37:53

his legislative dreams. In 2014

37:55

he reset his sights on the 35th

37:57

district seat in the state of Nevada's

37:59

lower assembly And Jones was

38:01

elected as part of a red wave of

38:03

Republican victories that swept the country that year.

38:06

During his two-year term, he

38:08

sponsored several unsuccessful conservative efforts

38:10

like voter ID laws and

38:13

eliminating the state's health insurance

38:15

exchange. Brent Jones

38:17

was also implicated in an extortion

38:19

scheme to force other GOP members

38:21

into changing their votes for assembly

38:23

speaker, but he was never indicted.

38:27

Jones ran for a reelection in

38:29

2016, but again, his Scientology roots

38:31

came back to haunt him. During

38:34

his campaign, multiple former employees

38:36

and volunteers filed discrimination lawsuits

38:38

against Jones, claiming that

38:40

he had required them to attend

38:42

Scientology facilities and to complete Scientology

38:45

courses. A former brand

38:47

ambassador for Realwater said she was

38:49

denied pay and eventually fired after

38:51

refusing to watch her Boston's propaganda

38:54

videos like this one. If

38:56

you hold your creation, you visualize it,

38:58

you start making it very real, the

39:01

physical world will start to accept your

39:03

world and the outside physical world will

39:05

actually start to align itself with you.

39:09

How does this happen? It happens

39:11

with your 100% confident and

39:13

positive intention. Brent

39:15

Jones responded publicly to the allegations

39:17

in the form of a PowerPoint

39:19

presentation. The courses had nothing

39:22

to do with Scientology, Jones claimed. The

39:24

philosophies were based more on a comparable

39:26

pile of bullshit called The Secret, a

39:29

popular book in those days that touted the

39:31

power of positive thinking and the law of

39:33

attraction, endorsed by daytime

39:35

TV talk show gurus like Oprah

39:37

Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres. Brent

39:40

Jones claimed the lawsuits were meritless

39:42

and quote, merely a tactic for

39:44

the opposition to create a good

39:46

political campaign attack, adding, apparently

39:49

the young lady is looking for a free

39:51

payday and this is not her first lawsuit.

39:54

Some may call her a gold digger. videos.

40:01

We do things to encourage and help

40:03

our employees develop nothing

40:06

with religion whatsoever. Assemblyman

40:08

Jones thinks this lawsuit has nothing to do

40:10

with religion at all. He says it's politically

40:12

motivated. We've heard that this is the establishment's

40:14

attempt to take me out because I'm a

40:17

very vocal critic of the governor's tax. We

40:19

asked lawmakers about this and got the

40:21

following response from Assembly Majority Leader Paul

40:23

Anderson. Quote, for Brent Jones to blame

40:26

anyone but himself is absurd and laughable.

40:28

It goes to show Brent's distorted view

40:30

of reality. End quote. Despite

40:33

Brent Jones' positive thoughts, he was

40:35

out-raised, out-spent, and ultimately defeated by

40:37

his Democratic opponent and his bid

40:39

for re-election to the Nevada State

40:41

Assembly in 2016. During

40:44

that same cycle, Brent Jones' son,

40:46

Blaine, was also defeated in his

40:49

quest to become District 21's Assemblyman.

40:52

But something else happened that year that

40:54

emboldened the owners of Real Water

40:56

to continue their pursuit of a

40:58

free market wet dream. Now,

41:00

look it. We have a chance right now.

41:03

We've been going the wrong way for 65

41:05

years as other speakers. But we have a

41:07

chance right now because we elected Donald Trump

41:09

president. Donald Trump is fighting those swamp creatures

41:12

so hard that they're distracted right now. They're

41:14

worried and they're attacking him so hard. But what does

41:16

that do? That means that a lot of people's eyes

41:18

are off the ball. And that's where we need to

41:21

step up. We need to be the cavalry. We need

41:23

to come in and really make it happen. Because

41:25

I'm willing to take the hits. I'm willing to,

41:27

when I come out, what I say, have OSHA

41:29

show up and find me every other month. Have

41:31

the fire department come in and tell me I have to shut

41:34

down if I don't spend another I'm

41:37

willing to take those hits because I

41:39

know how important it is for my

41:41

children to enjoy this great country. Because

41:43

we are the only country that is

41:45

the beacon of hope and prosperity in

41:47

the entire world. In

41:49

2018, Brent Jones, the

41:51

water martyr, ran for Lieutenant Governor

41:53

of Nevada with the same old song and

41:56

dance. Low taxes.

41:58

Deregulation. Defund. education.

42:01

This is the dumbing down of our society. We

42:04

are indoctrinating our kids. We're dumbing

42:06

them down. We're teaching them that

42:08

our founding fathers are bad men.

42:10

They're bad people. We're teaching them

42:12

that capitalism is bad. That's what

42:14

we're paying our money to

42:17

do. We've got to

42:19

stop it because we are not the

42:21

bad people. We are the good people. We've got to

42:23

use the history and logic. You

42:25

know, 60 years ago, there was a

42:27

book written called Atlas Shrugs. Brent

42:30

Allen Jones destroys his opponent with

42:33

history and logic, but he

42:35

lost the election. That same year,

42:37

his wife Amy campaigned for his old 35th

42:39

district seat in the assembly. She

42:41

too was a loser. It

42:44

was becoming as clear as alkaline ionized

42:46

water that the Jones's family future in

42:48

politics was fading. Luckily,

42:51

they had real water to keep them afloat

42:54

for now. She got

42:56

really violently ill. She had stopped

42:58

eating at that point. She saw she

43:00

was doing this throwing up. You don't know what's going on

43:02

with your daughter. You're putting her in the back of the

43:04

car, limp in the car seat. Yeah,

43:07

it was excruciating. Scrutcheting.

43:10

It seemed like every member of the Carrier family

43:12

in Las Vegas got sick at some point during

43:14

the fall of 2020. Ryan

43:17

and Erica Carrier's two year old son,

43:19

Finn, came down with some kind of

43:21

stomach bug. Ryan was just

43:23

getting over something himself and their five

43:25

year old daughter, Hera, caught something similar.

43:28

But unlike her father and little brother, Hera's

43:31

condition gradually worsened. Constant

43:34

complaining, Erica Carrier told CBS

43:36

News. For weeks, it was

43:38

mommy, my tummy hurts, I don't feel good. Until

43:41

eventually, Hera stopped eating entirely

43:43

on November 10th, 2020. Hospital

43:46

staff became quite alarmed after analyzing

43:48

five year old Hera Carrier's vitals.

43:51

Her blood sugar levels were extremely low

43:54

and her ALT levels, which is an enzyme

43:56

that is released in the bloodstream when liver

43:58

cells are damaged, were extremely low. extremely elevated.

44:02

The numbers reflected full-blown liver

44:04

failure, like Hera had

44:06

consumed something highly toxic, although

44:08

the source of the toxin could not be determined

44:10

at the time. Hera

44:12

Carrier was airlifted to a children's hospital

44:14

in Salt Lake City. She

44:16

underwent a spinal tap and two blood

44:19

transfusions. The doctors informed her

44:21

parents that Hera would most likely

44:23

require a liver transplant in the

44:25

coming days. It's absolutely

44:27

like going into shock. You

44:29

know, thinking that you're... You're

44:34

a five-year-old, five-year-old, and you can't fail. So

44:37

many things make you fall to your knees in life, right? Uh-huh.

44:40

But we all fall to our knees, right?

44:42

Yeah. And we all pray. Those

44:45

prayers were answered. Over the

44:47

next ten days, Hera Carrier's condition

44:49

gradually improved. Her liver enzymes

44:52

returned to normal, and she was discharged

44:54

from the hospital just in time for

44:56

Thanksgiving. A few months

44:58

earlier, the Wren family in Las Vegas

45:00

had faced the exact same situation. Two-year-old

45:03

Christopher Noah Wren was hospitalized

45:06

in August 2020 with an

45:08

unknown ailment. The normal range

45:10

for ALT in the bloodstream is 29 to 33

45:13

units per liter. Christopher's ALT units

45:15

per liter measured at over 5,000. His

45:18

mother, Emily, whose

45:20

own ALT levels measured in the hundreds at

45:22

the time, was told that her son was

45:24

a candidate for an immediate liver transplant for

45:26

an estimated cost of $800,000 out of pocket.

45:31

Fortunately, just like Hera Carrier, Christopher

45:33

Noah Wren recovered before the transplant

45:36

was necessary. And

45:38

those two weren't the only ones. Summerlin

45:40

Children's Hospital in Vegas recognized the

45:42

trend. That fall, multiple children,

45:45

ranging from seven months old to five

45:47

years old in Clark County, had

45:49

been admitted with symptoms resembling acute liver

45:51

failure, certainly a cause for

45:54

concern. At the same

45:56

time, Centennial Hills Hospital in Vegas recognized

45:58

the trend in adults. For

46:00

example, Tina Hartshorn was admitted on November 9,

46:02

2020. Her blood

46:04

sugar was so low doctors thought she might

46:06

be diabetic, but she wasn't. Ms. Hartshorn racked

46:09

up nine days at a $100,000 medical bill

46:11

before recovering. When

46:14

I was in the hospital, I really thought I was going to

46:16

die. And that was

46:19

one of the most scariest feelings that I've ever had as

46:21

a mom. Especially

46:23

someone who lost their parents at a young age.

46:26

I didn't want my kids to go through any part

46:28

of their life without me. That's

46:31

Lorraine Calliana Propruit. Similar

46:33

symptoms carried her to the verge of death.

46:36

Fortunately, she survived. Unfortunately,

46:39

69-year-old Kathleen Ryerson did

46:42

not. Kathleen had

46:44

endured endless medical tests since September

46:46

2020, but doctors could

46:48

not figure out why her liver was failing.

46:51

Before she was hospitalized for the second time

46:53

in October, Kathleen could barely get out

46:55

of bed. Kathleen Ryerson

46:57

succumbed to her illness on November 11, 2020.

47:02

All of the aforementioned patients

47:04

were eventually diagnosed with acute

47:06

non-viral hepatitis, which is

47:09

an inflammation of the liver that can

47:11

lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure,

47:13

and death. That's typically caused

47:15

by exposure to toxins. And

47:17

what toxin was responsible for inflicting this

47:20

condition on all these Clark County, Nevada

47:22

residents? After interviews, it

47:25

was determined that it could only be one. There

47:27

was one common link, real

47:29

water beyond alkalinity.

47:34

New this morning, a warning

47:36

regarding the bottled water brand

47:38

Real Water. Five Nevada children

47:40

were hospitalized with liver failure

47:42

after drinking that beverage. They

47:45

have since recovered. Six

47:47

more cases of hepatitis are being linked

47:49

to a brand of alkaline drinking water.

47:52

At issue is Real Water. A total

47:54

of 11 confirmed cases of hepatitis are

47:56

now linked to the brand. The

47:58

latest involvement- The other

48:01

five involved children all needed to

48:03

be hospitalized. The Southern

48:05

Nevada Health District says it's also investigating

48:07

50 additional cases. Hello.

48:12

We feel it is important to issue

48:14

a personal statement regarding the recent FDA

48:16

investigation associated with Realwater. First,

48:19

we'd like to express our deepest sympathy and

48:21

concern over the events that led to the

48:23

inquiry. We started Realwater

48:25

over 13 years ago with the intention

48:27

to provide a healthy product that benefits

48:30

and elevates people's lifestyles. We're

48:32

deeply sad to learn that anything otherwise

48:35

could be the result. I

48:38

often reach out to tell you about Realwater's commitment

48:40

to quality. Your trust matters to me and I'm

48:42

proud of how far we've come. Therefore,

48:45

this recall is deeply concerning because

48:47

you should never have any worry

48:49

about the safety of any of

48:51

our products. I

48:53

want to personally apologize to all of our

48:56

customers and I assure you that the lessons

48:58

learned from this will drive further improvement in

49:00

the brand. We're grateful

49:03

for your ongoing support and will

49:05

continue to do everything we can

49:07

to meet and exceed your expectations.

49:10

We value you and your continued

49:12

trust in Realwater. Thank

49:14

you. On

49:17

March 16, 2021,

49:19

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

49:21

opened an investigation into Realwater. The

49:23

agency issued an outbreak advisory for

49:26

the brand. We

49:28

are advising consumers, restaurants, and retailers

49:30

to not consume, cook with, sell,

49:32

or serve Realwater alkaline water until

49:34

more information is known about the

49:36

cause of the illnesses. Realwater

49:39

was pulled from store shelves nationwide.

49:42

The company ceased production and

49:44

voluntarily recalled its bottles and

49:46

concentrate. Realwater's founder and

49:48

president, Brent Allen Jones, followed

49:51

with a statement and an apology video

49:53

to emphasize that the company was concerned

49:55

about its customers' health and it was

49:57

fully cooperating. Thank you for calling Realwater.

50:00

Please hold for the next available representative.

50:03

That didn't last long. Realwater stopped

50:05

answering the phone. The FDA's requests

50:07

for records were ignored, probably

50:09

off recommendations from legal counsel considering

50:11

the barrage of lawsuits coming down

50:13

the pipe. Tonight, the

50:15

legal battle over realwater is growing.

50:17

But new lawsuits now link the Henderson-based

50:20

water company to the deaths of three

50:22

dogs as well as acute liver failure

50:24

of a UFC fighter. The

50:27

water is also being blamed for a

50:29

woman's stroke and also severe illnesses in

50:31

multiple children as well. And

50:33

on top of that, the FDA says

50:36

that realwater is not cooperating with its

50:38

investigation. Six lawsuits were

50:40

filed two weeks after the FDA's initial warning

50:42

and more were on the way. This

50:45

is Will Kemp, an attorney representing some of the

50:47

victims. So far we filed

50:49

two lawsuits. We've been contacted by approximately

50:51

40 people who've been hospitalized.

50:55

One person's had a liver transplant. We probably

50:57

filed that case next week. Two

50:59

people have died. Some

51:01

of the newly named victims included

51:03

Miriam Brody, Miles Hunwergsen, Christina Sosa,

51:06

Jasmine Schafer and 23-year-old Grace Zimmerman

51:08

who had part of her liver

51:10

and gallbladder removed because she had

51:13

developed liver cancer. All

51:15

of them consumed real water with some

51:17

regularity. Some even continued to

51:19

drink the product after being discharged from the

51:22

hospital because the root cause of their afflictions

51:24

hadn't yet been determined. The

51:26

lawsuit says the 23-year-old drank the bottled water

51:28

for several months in 2019. Doctors

51:32

diagnosed her with liver cancer last year.

51:34

In a separate lawsuit filed last week, lawyers

51:37

claim a home delivery customer in her 60s

51:40

died from liver failure. Realwater

51:42

was also being blamed for a woman's stroke, two

51:45

miscarriages and half a dozen dead dogs.

51:48

Realwater's UFC Hall of Fame spokesperson,

51:50

Stefan Bonner, was down for the

51:52

count. just

52:01

so confused and disoriented

52:03

and when

52:06

I got in here five days ago

52:08

they asked me the president was I

52:10

said Bush I

52:13

didn't have the year right or the month I

52:17

was pretty bad but

52:20

apparently my ammonia levels were over

52:22

200 and I went asked

52:27

the doctor if that was

52:29

bad he said usually people

52:32

die at that level and normal is

52:34

20 but

52:38

levels are back down thought

52:40

maybe it was salmonella and

52:43

he also thinks it could be Wilson's

52:48

disease. Stephen

52:50

Bonner spent five days in the

52:52

hospital in November 2020 with acute

52:55

liver failure he was also sowing

52:57

real water but sadly he would

52:59

never get to see the results after

53:01

Stephen's battle with liver failure his

53:03

physical health and luck continued to

53:05

worsen in September

53:07

2021 he fractured a

53:10

vertebrae a post-MMA career professional

53:12

wrestling match that fractured vertebrae

53:14

led to a near fatal staph infection on

53:16

the spine which led the pain pills and

53:18

an unfortunate video of Stephen confronting the staff

53:21

at a hospital for more after

53:23

a month long stay and shedding 36 pounds Stephen

53:26

Bonner returned home only to

53:29

lose everything in a house fire less than

53:31

six months later. What's up

53:33

everyone I'm sorry I missed the

53:35

paradigm pro wrestling event takes

53:39

a lot to put me

53:42

on my ass but this did

53:44

it this did it it's

53:49

some bad food got

53:51

some salmonella from blueberries

53:54

and a

53:57

week after food poisoning Stephen Bonner died

53:59

on the 22, 2022

54:01

and was ruled an

54:03

accidental fentanyl drug overdose. He

54:05

was 45 years old. At

54:08

the time the lawsuit in which Stephen Bonner was

54:10

a party was progressing through the courts. No

54:13

settlement or judgment of any kind had been

54:15

made but more information about

54:17

exactly what happened was being made public

54:19

which in addition to the

54:21

illnesses gave Nevadans even more reasons to

54:23

be angry. For instance,

54:25

the source of real water

54:27

was determined to come from the

54:30

Lake Mead reservoir on the Colorado

54:32

River. In other words, it

54:34

was the same water the city of Las

54:36

Vegas used for its public supply. Ordinary

54:39

tap water, which is already alkaline

54:41

by the way. To

54:43

their credit, real water did treat the

54:45

water before bottling and selling it and

54:48

there was nothing illegal about the practice

54:51

but the immorality of it all gave residents

54:53

pause. Nevada is one

54:55

of the driest states in the country. Water

54:58

is a fleeting resource and

55:00

here's a man, Brent Allen Jones,

55:02

who was exporting the local supply

55:05

for profit. A local

55:07

supply built and maintained by tax

55:09

dollars. Imagine that. But

55:12

again, credit where credit is due.

55:15

There was some processing on the company's end, primarily

55:18

adding the real water concentrate to

55:20

the tap water which many theorized

55:22

including attorney Will Kemp is

55:25

the step in the process where everything

55:27

went wrong. I think

55:29

what happened is they just put too much of the

55:31

concentrate in and the batches that

55:33

people had had too many metals in it and

55:35

that's why you had the liver react to it

55:37

and you had all the liver failures. In

55:40

April 2021, as part of the ongoing litigation,

55:43

Will Kemp deposed real water's

55:45

lead water technician, Casey Aiken.

55:48

Aiken was a former vacuum and

55:51

timeshare salesman. More recently, he

55:53

was a strip club promoter but lost that

55:55

gig because of the pandemic. That's

55:57

how Casey ended up working at Real Water, loading.

56:00

bottles on the pallets for $10 an hour.

56:03

Within months, Casey Aiken said he was

56:05

promoted to lead water technician by Blaine

56:07

Jones. Casey says he had

56:09

no experience whatsoever and only

56:11

received a quote, couple hours of hands-on

56:14

training. Casey's new job

56:16

was to dump the real liquid concentrate

56:18

into the water, mix it, and test

56:20

it. Simple as that. However,

56:23

one day in September or October,

56:26

Aiken couldn't remember exactly. He

56:28

observed a low reading on the alkalinity

56:30

levels while mixing a new batch. He

56:33

called his boss Blaine for guidance. Casey

56:35

said Blaine directed him to add more

56:37

real concentrate to the water until the

56:40

desired alkalinity levels were achieved. Problem

56:42

solved. He told you

56:44

to add more concentrate, correct? But

56:47

he didn't tell you how much. No, he didn't

56:49

tell me how much. You do understand that if

56:51

you potentially add more concentrate

56:53

than you usually use, that there

56:55

potentially be a problem with the

56:57

water. I wouldn't think so. You

57:00

would think so. No, I wouldn't. But you don't

57:02

know what's in the concentrate. If I'm putting it

57:04

into somebody that's ingesting it, I would think that

57:06

it's safe no matter what. That's my thought. As

57:08

we stated today, you don't have any idea what

57:10

was in the liquid concentrate. Not good. And you

57:15

don't know where it came from. Not good. If I

57:17

thought that we were making people sick, I wouldn't have

57:19

made it. Lead

57:21

water technician Casey Aiken was completely

57:23

ignorant about what was in the

57:26

concentrate and its effects and excessive

57:28

amounts. His ignorance was exemplified days

57:30

after brewing the fresh batch when he took

57:32

home a five gallon jug of real water

57:34

for his two year old dog, a

57:37

dog that was soon diagnosed with a liver

57:39

illness. So

57:41

what exactly was in the real

57:43

water concentrate that was causing hepatitis

57:45

and liver failure? Well,

57:48

tests eventually revealed that there was

57:50

a chemical called hydrazine, a

57:53

chemical most commonly used and rocket

57:55

fuel. Real water's lawyers

57:57

argued that the company had no idea that. was

58:00

in the water and furthermore had no idea

58:02

how to test for it. Therefore,

58:05

the company had not acted maliciously

58:07

but rather unintentionally,

58:09

negligently, quote, this

58:11

is a failure of imagination. Jury

58:14

is set to begin deliberations today in

58:17

a lawsuit against the local bottled water

58:19

company. The company real water was sued

58:21

by multiple plaintiffs including a family of

58:23

a 69 year old woman

58:26

who died from liver disease. The

58:28

lawsuit alleges that the company hired

58:30

unqualified employees to manage the water

58:32

testing. In October 2023,

58:34

a state court jury awarded more than 228 million

58:36

dollars in damages to

58:40

several plaintiffs including Kathleen Ryerson, the

58:42

69 year old woman who died.

58:45

In February 2024, another

58:47

jury awarded 130 million dollars to

58:49

five people who suffered liver damage.

58:52

We want to send a message to food

58:55

and beverage manufacturers that they should be

58:57

committed to quality assurance. Attorney Will Kemp

58:59

told the Associated Press, at

59:01

least 15 cases including more

59:03

than 50 plaintiffs are pending. Other

59:06

defendants in the case including retailers,

59:09

convenience stores, and testing meter

59:11

companies reportedly reached confidential settlements before

59:13

trial and up to this point

59:15

no criminal charges have been filed and it doesn't look

59:17

like there ever will be. However,

59:20

real water and its parent company

59:22

Affinity Lifestyles have filed for bankruptcy.

59:25

According to documents, Brent Jones and

59:27

his family who have also filed

59:29

for personal bankruptcy shut down real

59:31

water and fled pro-business Nevada for

59:34

pro-business Texas. They're reportedly living

59:36

in a rental home near Houston. Also

59:39

according to the filing, the Joneses have less than

59:42

30,000 dollars in assets

59:44

and more than 4 million dollars in

59:46

debt which is rapidly mounting thanks to

59:48

the ongoing litigation. Reportedly,

59:50

both Brent and Amy are unemployed

59:52

with less than a hundred bucks

59:54

in their checking account and

59:57

they're living off borrowed funds from family like

59:59

protege. prototypical welfare queens.

1:00:02

Think Positive. If

1:01:31

you don't want anything in return for your support, you

1:01:33

can always simply donate using the form

1:01:35

on the homepage. That's it.

1:01:38

Thanks for listening.