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Scamanda
Chapter 7 — This Lady Royally Sucks
00:37:59
An explosive piece of evidence is submitted to the court.
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- [00:00]
Amanda C. Riley
The new Boost Mobile network is offering unlimited talk, text and data for just $25 a month for life. That sounds like a threat. Then how do you think we should say it? Unlimited talk, text and data for just $25 a month for the rest of your life. I don't know. Until your ultimate demise. What if we just say forever? Okay. $25 a month. Forever. Get unlimited talk, text and Data for just $25 a month.
- [00:22]
Nancy Moscatello
With Boost Mobile Forever.
- [00:24]
Amanda C. Riley
After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience slower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan. What is Dax, are you tracking all our cars on Carvana Value Tracker on all our devices? Yes, Kristen. Yes, I am. Well, I've been looking for my phone for. In dax's domain, we see all. So we always know what our cars are worth.
- [00:45]
Nancy Moscatello
All of them? All of them.
- [00:48]
Amanda C. Riley
Value surge trucks up 3.9%. That's a great offer. I know. Sell.
- [00:54]
Charlie Webster
Sell.
- [00:56]
Amanda C. Riley
Track your car's value with Carvana Value Tracker today. Dear old work platform. It's not you, it's us. Actually, it is you. Endless onboarding, constant IT bottlenecks. We've had enough. We need a platform that just gets us. And to be honest, we've met someone new. They're called Monday.com and it was love at first onboarding. Their beautiful dashboards, their customizable workflows got us floating on a digital cloud. 9. So no hard feelings, but we're moving on Monday.com, the first work platform you'll love to use. Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At Mintmobile, we like to do the opposite of what big wireless does. They charge you a lot, we charge you a little. So naturally, when they announced they'd be raising their prices due to inflation, we decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you. That's right. We're cutting the price of mint unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try@mintmobile.com switch. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first 3 month plan only. Taxes and fees ext. Lower above 40 gigabytes.
- [02:01]
Nancy Moscatello
Detail.
- [02:06]
Charlie Webster
Hey, Scamander fans. Charlie here. I've got something big you won't want to miss. If you loved the podcast, then mark your calendars because here comes Scamander, the docu series starting tonight at 9:00pm 8 Central Time on ABC and then also streaming on Hulu. Watch for yourself as every step plays out and see firsthand how how Amanda Riley's world spirals down and out of control. The lies, the betrayals, the investigation, the police and some of the people closest to Amanda Riley share their stunning and emotional stories tonight at 9:00pm 8 Central on ABC. This amazing new series will be taking an even deeper dive into the notorious con artists and I promise you you will be on the edge of your seat with jaw dropping twists, turns and shocking revelations. Trust me, you won't be able to look away. So make sure to watch the shocking and incredible new docuseries on ABC and Hulu. If you love the podcast, you are just going to love this. Grab your popcorn, set that reminder and tune in starting tonight, January 30th to what will sure be pure primetime drama. Believe me, you don't want want to be the only one not talking about this show. Scamander on ABC and streaming on Hulu. And it all starts tonight, January 30th at 9pm 8 Central. Watch this people. It's too good. You ready for the ride? Let's go. Amanda C. Riley had some bad news for the followers of her blog and her cancer journey.
- [04:03]
Amanda C. Riley
The doctor was gentle, but basically explained that at this point it is no longer medically plausible for me to be cured. In all fairness, I knew it was coming, but it was still tough to hear. I then asked how long again? He said it all depends on how my body reacts to the drugs. Maybe three to six months.
- [04:28]
Charlie Webster
Two weeks later, the blog stopped being updated. There was no no activity for five months until a new blog post.
- [04:41]
Amanda C. Riley
It's been a while since I posted. I've been trying to rediscover normaly. If I'm being honest, this isn't quite what I thought life without cancer would be like.
- [04:53]
Charlie Webster
Yep, Amanda's cancer was officially gone. In her longest post yet, she got vulnerable with her loyal readers and really opened herself up telling them what she was actually feeling about finally saying goodbye to cancer. But it wasn't quite what you might expect.
- [05:11]
Amanda C. Riley
Cancer changes you. I am not the same person I was before I got diagnosed. Cancer made me stronger, bolder, and a little harder. The things I liked before cancer and I thought were important aren't now. The people I wanted to spend my time with and the things I wanted to do have drastically changed. I feel like cancer made me grow up a lot faster. I'm not as ignorant.
- [05:38]
Charlie Webster
You can imagine how much of a toll it takes never knowing what day will be your last, constantly being told you have months to live only to go into remission and then relapse over and over again. Cancer undoubtedly changed Amanda, and with it came the responsibilities and pressure of sharing her story so openly for all to see.
- [06:02]
Amanda C. Riley
After cancer is also really lonely and kind of dark if I'm being completely raw. When I was going through treatment, I got unwantedly shoved into the spotlight of receiving 24 hour a day support, people cheering me on, leaving me nice messages, checking on me. Although being the center of attention is never something I wanted, it was what I needed.
- [06:28]
Charlie Webster
It's interesting the way Amanda felt like she'd been shoved into the spotlight, given that it was Amanda herself who chose to start her blog to not only.
- [06:37]
Amanda C. Riley
Keep friends and family in the loop, but serve as a resource to all those newly diagnosed.
- [06:43]
Charlie Webster
Being a cancer influencer is difficult, especially when there's questions about the authenticity of what you're putting out there. Was the spotlight truly unwanted? Don't forget while Amanda was posting this, she knew at this point that the IRS were investigating her and watching her every move.
- [07:03]
Nancy Moscatello
She told me that she was going.
- [07:04]
Amanda C. Riley
To be taking down some of her social media and her blog.
- [07:08]
Charlie Webster
She told her close friend Rebecca Cafiro that the blog was coming down.
- [07:13]
Amanda C. Riley
She said because of that, because they were doing all of this research or investigation, she was taking down her blog and she was going to be a lot more private on social media.
- [07:23]
Charlie Webster
It turns out this was to be her last ever blog post.
- [07:28]
Amanda C. Riley
It's almost like PTSD for cancer. Living in constant fear of when will it come back without all the distraction to keep you out of your head.
- [07:38]
Charlie Webster
But while it might have been the end of her blog, it wasn't the end of Amanda C. Reilly and her cancer story. I'm Charlie Webster, you're listening to Scamander. With the ongoing IRS investigation and the court battle with Nancy over a restraining order, Amanda probably needed a break from the blog anyway. At the same time, her career was taking off with a huge promotion. She left her job as an English teacher at Valley Christian to become principal at Pacific Point Elementary School in Gilroy, California.
- [08:38]
Nancy Moscatello
At the time that Amanda was going for a restraining order, she had become a principal of a Christian elementary school. Nancy when that happened, I was dumbfounded by it because her previous work experience was a substitute teacher for English. And then when she got the job as a full English teacher, she taught for a few months and then was out on sick leave for months on end until they let her go. And then she got hired as a summer camp person at the Christian elementary school and went from camp counselor basically to principal, which is mind boggling.
- [09:17]
Charlie Webster
Amanda had moved to Gilroy a half hour drive From San Jose, it's classed as the southern gateway to Silicon Valley. We drove up to Gilroy to get a feel of where all this happened. The town is known as the garlic capital of the world. We could smell garlic from miles away. 90% of America's garlic is processed there, with over 100 million pounds of garlic harvested every year.
- [09:44]
Amanda C. Riley
I was born at Wheeler Hospital in Gilroy in 1978 and my mom was a nurse and my dad was a police officer. I was here my whole life. It was a smaller town then. You know, you walked to school, you did everything.
- [09:59]
Charlie Webster
This is local. Gilroy mom Rebecca Spencer, she has two boys, James and Jonathan. Jonathan is terminally ill. He has a rare fatal disease called Niemann Pick disease, type C. Everybody's very.
- [10:12]
Amanda C. Riley
Giving and donating to my son. People are amazing. We have this big fundraiser at the winery every year and we've raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for my son's disease. And people like go out of their way to help my child. Gilroy's just a special place. There will always be home. I still live here. I'll live here till I die.
- [10:34]
Charlie Webster
Rebecca was looking for a new school for her son James, Jonathan's younger brother. She and her husband were looking for somewhere that would be able to cater for their family's needs. She settled on Pacific Point where Amanda was principal.
- [10:48]
Amanda C. Riley
My husband went to private school in the same town and to Christian private school. And when my mother in law passed away, her last wish was that my son would go to private school and especially a Christian private school. So we went and we met Ms. Riley, we had a tour, we talked about how amazing the school is. We just walked around the school with my two children and they showed us the different classrooms and what the school was all about. At that time I had talked to her because we were talking about James, you know, having this brother with a terminal illness and how hard we wanted to make sure that they knew that he would be missing school because he had to come with us at that point for Jonathan's treatments. So she said, oh yes, we understand. And we prayed together. At that time she told us she was in remission and that she had been getting treatments for years and that she was doing better. She just had to go in, you know, a few times and that's all I knew about the cancer that she, she was in remission.
- [11:56]
Charlie Webster
What were your first impressions of her?
- [11:59]
Amanda C. Riley
Amazing, sweet, kind, beautiful, well spoken. Her son and my son were in the same, same class. We knew that was happening. I just thought she was wonderful. My husband and I both thought she was wonderful. We were just. We were impressed. My son struggled with learning things in the beginning of kindergarten, so we had to come into meetings with her and the other teacher and kind of talk about him, different ways of him learning. So she actually tested him in her office and did all these things with James, just kind of see where he was academically because he wasn't quite with the other kids. Now he is. But at that point, he was a slow learner. So she did all the testing with him, called me about it. So, I mean, she seemed like she knew exactly what she was doing. I never once thought she wasn't a great principal. Every morning she would sit there and she had this big board. They do their assemblies. And then you would walk up to the board and it would say, you could either ask for a high five, a nod, a hug, you know, and all the kids would point to what they wanted, and she would hug every kid that wanted to be hugged, high five every kid that needed to be high fived, and really made it personal. She was so good with the kids. Most of the kids wanted to hug her, not shake her hand or wave. It was just an amazing thing. Most of the parents stayed for this every morning. It was a very happy place to go to. And she made things happy. She could walk in and light up every child in that room.
- [13:36]
Charlie Webster
Although Amanda was no longer updating her blog after her news that she was cancer free, Pacific Point was doing a fundraiser for two sick staff members. One of them was Amanda C. Reilly. Her cancer was back again.
- [13:50]
Amanda C. Riley
We found out that her cancer was back when her and Ms. Cindy did a fundraiser together. And she used to come in in the mornings, like in her pajamas and stuff, like sometimes to get work done before she had to go have treatments. So of course we all donated. We all wanted to help both of them. It was heartbreaking that, you know, these two women who give their life to the children were both out of remission and their cancers both came back. It was just fundraising, just to raise money through donations and stuff to both of them. They would email us through the school, too. It was, you know, the school was involved. They just wanted to help them with whatever they needed for expenses. So everybody just donated money.
- [14:34]
Charlie Webster
The school set up a website with the title helping Mrs. Riley and Ms. Cindy to fundraise. They said that all proceeds will go to help them both with medical bills and living expenses while they are fighting the good fight. Those who donated would receive a personalized T shirt with the term Pack Point Strong on it. These are some of the comments that were left on the fundraising site.
- [14:57]
Amanda C. Riley
Mrs. Riley has been a blessing to my children. We love you, Mrs. Riley. Our love and prayers are with you both. Love you, Ms. Cindy. Mrs. Riley and Ms. Cindy are in our prayers and we wish them all best. We are all praying for Mrs. Riley and Ms. Cindy.
- [15:12]
Charlie Webster
May God bless them and give them.
- [15:14]
Amanda C. Riley
Courage through this difficult time.
- [15:16]
Charlie Webster
Wishing them both good health.
- [15:22]
Amanda C. Riley
We personally donated 500 as a family and we donated it to both of them. We just donated because we, you know, you always try to help other people. Seeing Ms. Riley having two little boys, one in the same class as my son, the other one a year older, it was heartbreaking. Seeing the little boys and wondering how their mom's doing. One time I saw Ms. Riley coming in the morning and she was still in her pajamas and she said, you know, she was just having a really hard time and she needed to get the kids into school and, you know, that it had come back and that, you know, she's just trying to get back together. She took a couple months off at that point and then she was coming back and we were all so excited when she came back.
- [16:05]
Charlie Webster
What were you told about that period.
- [16:07]
Amanda C. Riley
Of time that she was back into treatment? And we were just told by the school that she was very sick and that trying to support her through the cancer coming back. They had told us it was Hodgkin's lymphoma and, you know, they were just supporting her.
- [16:24]
Charlie Webster
Even though the blog was officially finished, Amanda's updates didn't stop though. Now, there was no specific mention of the word cancer, just that she was sick. The pictures moved to Facebook, and instead of writing blogs, she posted selfie videos in hospital like this one.
- [16:44]
Amanda C. Riley
So Today is my 70th day in the hospital and it is my last day in this hospital. As I found out. I'm officially moving to the higher level care hospital tomorrow. So if you could just pray against my nerves and that the doctors are able to find answers and bring wisdom.
- [17:05]
Charlie Webster
And when you saw her after that, what did she say?
- [17:09]
Amanda C. Riley
She just said her cancer was back and she was, you know, in treatment and hoping that it would get better. And then we all would pray, you know, and they would pray for her in the assemblies.
- [17:20]
Charlie Webster
And did you pray for her then?
- [17:23]
Amanda C. Riley
Absolutely. It was devastating. You know, you don't want somebody that is that passionate with your children and that wonder, well, anybody in general with cancer or whatnot, and having a child that's sick and seeing all the stuff that really goes on in the world with sick kids. I need faith, my son. If some reason we don't find a cure and he goes before me, which hope to God that won't happen, but reality is, it probably will. I want the faith because I have to believe that there's something more out there. I have to.
- [17:54]
Charlie Webster
The school didn't give much information to parents about Amanda's continued absences.
- [17:59]
Amanda C. Riley
We heard that she was in the hospital and she was just getting sicker and sicker.
- [18:03]
Charlie Webster
But one person did.
- [18:05]
Amanda C. Riley
Nancy called. And that's like how I found out more information.
- [18:10]
Charlie Webster
Nancy was calling anybody she could get a hold of to let people know that there was more to Amanda's story than meets the eye. And Amanda was doing all she could to get Nancy out of her life.
- [18:22]
Nancy Moscatello
The restraining order she wanted was not just for me to be restrained in talking to her or coming near her, but also restrained against her family. So from her husband, the stepdaughter, and the two children that they were concerned about, they didn't want me contacting employers or relatives of the protected parties.
- [18:45]
Charlie Webster
Amanda reached out to Rebecca Cafiro. She was the friend that took the family photos and used to work with Amanda's mum, Peggy.
- [18:52]
Amanda C. Riley
Amanda asked me if I'd been contacted by a reporter. I'm like, no, what, you know, kind of what's going on? And she's like, oh, well, apparently there was some conflict with Corey's ex wife, but there was allegations going against Amanda and Corey and some type of tension. And she just said that, you know, his ex wife, like, has a friend that's a reporter, and they're trying to, like, kind of create a slanderous case. But they've been reaching out and poking around, but there's, you know, there's no truth to any of it. And so they can't get any information because none of it's true. So the reporters, they can't even.
- [19:27]
Nancy Moscatello
They're not even going to be able.
- [19:28]
Amanda C. Riley
To do anything with it. She said she was, like, filing a restraining order. She was putting a kibosh on it.
- [19:34]
Charlie Webster
What was your response to that?
- [19:35]
Amanda C. Riley
I remember just thinking, like, how unbelievably horrible that, you know, to be one just going through cancer and, like the day to day of, like, figuring things out, you know, feeling like, crap, your bills, like, what if I die? I'm like, leaving two children behind, like all of these things. And then to deal with something like someone slandering you. I mean, I was like, this ex wife is a piece of work.
- [19:59]
Charlie Webster
Amanda's court case had Nothing to do, however, with the ex wife, Alita. Amanda filed for a civil harassment restraining order against Nancy, claiming Nancy had gotten her fired from her previous job, gotten her husband fired from his job, that Nancy was harassing her family members and friends and posing as a federal agent. So what was it like going to court for this?
- [20:24]
Nancy Moscatello
So we ended up having a two day hearing with a judge assigned to the case. Almost like a little trial. There's no jury or anything, but the judge is your jury basically, and it's presented just like a trial. I had to take the stand. My lawyer walked me through whatever they did and then her attorney cross examined me and asked me questions also. I took the stand. Amanda took the stand. Her husband Corey took the stand. We had a couple of witnesses that took the stand. And it's like going through a trial. I knew that the ramifications of this one south could jeopardize my work, my career, you know, that's my livelihood. I knew it was important and I did not take this lightly at all.
- [21:13]
Charlie Webster
The consequences for Nancy if the civil harassment case didn't go her way were serious. It wasn't just her ability to contact Amanda's circle that was on the line. It was her professional credibility and reputation. She had to prove that what Amanda was claiming about her wasn't true. It started with employment records from Amanda's previous job as an English teacher.
- [21:37]
Nancy Moscatello
We presented all our evidence, the records that were subpoenaed from her previous workplace. It's a 3 inch binder of them communicating with Amanda via text and emails about her never showing up to work because she has cancer and that she's too sick to teach and too sick to come in, and parents complaining that their kid's teacher isn't there. And so the school had no choice but to replace her. They couldn't find substitutes anymore and that they were paying her and she was not coming into work because she was too sick because of her cancer. There was a parent at that school that was of the mindset that she didn't have cancer and told people at that school. And I got a call from the principal of the school. The first thing she asked me was why didn't we see it in her background check. I said, amanda Riley is not charged with anything. I said, I cannot tell you on the phone that Amanda Riley does not have cancer. I said, what I will tell you is that if you would like more information, here is the name of the federal investigator, here is her name, here is her contact number. And if you have questions about Anything, you should call her. And that was the extent of my conversation with that school. So I never got her fired. I never called the school. At one point, she's claiming I emailed the brother hundreds of times, called the school hundreds of times. I mean, we subpoenaed all my cell phone records, all my work phone records. We brought all of that to court for the judge. There's no calls. There's no calls.
- [23:29]
Charlie Webster
There were calls. Nancy did make calls, maybe not hundreds, but she was actively calling people.
- [23:36]
Nancy Moscatello
My attorney prepped me. Amazingly, there was a lot to prep. There was a lot. She. You basically had to go through the list that Amanda included in the documents and then have evidence for that, you know, of me not doing these things. And the best, the ability to show that and prep to be able to answer questions not only from my own attorney, but from whatever her attorney would ask.
- [24:00]
Charlie Webster
Was that the first time you met Amanda in person?
- [24:03]
Nancy Moscatello
Yes.
- [24:04]
Charlie Webster
What did you think?
- [24:05]
Nancy Moscatello
She came in impeccably dressed, very well put together. You know, she was at that point a principal at an elementary school. So she looked very much that part. You know, blazer dress, heels, the whole bit. She was very bubbly. She was very friendly towards the judge. Kind of giggly, like, oh, where do I go? Where do I do? And am I doing this? And her attorney was with her. We testified, and then there was like a 10 minute break. And then we had lunch. It was a lunch break. And at that time I was talking to my counsel, so it was myself and two attorneys. At that point, we were saying, oh, yeah, we should walk out and go get something to eat. We're in downtown San Jose. And she walked right over to us and said, oh, you should try this cafe. You should try this place to get coffee. And they make great sandwiches. And I heard the voice, but it took me a second to register that this was Amanda talking to us. And I just kind of like turned and looked, and my attorney went, okay, thank you. And she was like, oh, yeah, there's so many great places downtown. Like, just like nothing was wrong. Like we were just all there together. For some, it was a very strange interaction. I just thought it was extremely odd.
- [25:21]
Charlie Webster
What was she saying on the stand?
- [25:23]
Nancy Moscatello
Oh, well, she spoke, you know, all about how I got her fired, because as far as she was concerned, they told her that I called and I threatened them. And I said, if you don't fire her, I'm going to go public and say that you allowed this fraud to continue. She talked all about that. She talked about how I would call and represent myself as a federal agent to people and that if they didn't say what I wanted them to say, I was going to arrest them. I was supposed to be this menacing, threatening person to everybody. She talked about that. Yeah, she just. She had no problem lying. I wanted to trust in the fact that the judicial system would work for me or work properly.
- [26:18]
Charlie Webster
One of the calls Nancy did make was to a Team Amanda supporter who wrote a letter to the court backing Amanda up. She says in her letter, Nancy claimed to be calling on behalf of the IRS and was trying to acquire pertinent information to this case. I have pointed out to her that I had witnessed on more than one occasion Amanda violently throwing up from treatment. And that, to me, was not something that could be faked. The letter goes on to say she strongly suggested that was false and that because the investigation was underway, I was another of many who was being scammed. I did not for a second believe these deplorable allegations. To know how much Amanda has been through, Nancy's actions are, quite frankly, unconscionable. And the letter. I have zero questions as to the legitimacy of this because the woman I saw with my own eyes was someone who was fighting the battle of her life.
- [27:21]
Amanda C. Riley
Picture this.
- [27:22]
Charlie Webster
You're halfway through a DIY car fix.
- [27:24]
Amanda C. Riley
Tools scattered everywhere, and boom. You realize you're missing a part.
- [27:29]
Charlie Webster
It's okay, because, you know, whatever it.
- [27:31]
Amanda C. Riley
Is, it's on ebay.
- [27:32]
Charlie Webster
They've got everything.
- [27:33]
Amanda C. Riley
Brakes, headlights, cold air intakes.
- [27:35]
Charlie Webster
Whatever you need.
- [27:37]
Amanda C. Riley
And it's guaranteed to fit. Which means no more crossing your fingers.
- [27:40]
Charlie Webster
And hoping you ordered the right thing.
- [27:43]
Amanda C. Riley
All the parts you need at prices you'll love.
- [27:45]
Charlie Webster
Guaranteed to fit every time.
- [27:48]
Amanda C. Riley
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- [29:22]
Nancy Moscatello
Details.
- [29:25]
Charlie Webster
Rebecca Cafiro was also backing up team Amanda. This is a voice note Rebecca sent Amanda.
- [29:31]
Amanda C. Riley
I'd love to understand like the whole thing as much as you feel comfortable sharing, but I will tell you like if this is, I mean again, I don't know the situation situation, but like if this is his ex and like this reporter and you know, a corrupt IRS agent or just like a super unfair one like Amanda, I will put the full power of everything behind exposing this bullshit.
- [29:54]
Charlie Webster
And Amanda and Rebecca were exchanging voice notes about the court case. This is a voice note that Amanda sent to Rebecca.
- [30:02]
Nancy Moscatello
All right, so the first day court's.
- [30:03]
Amanda C. Riley
Over, second day is tomorrow and hopefully we're walking away with a straining order and charges. So hey, you reap what you sow. I wish no ill will against anybody but these people.
- [30:13]
Nancy Moscatello
While this lady royalty sucks. I was a really big problem for her and I wasn't going away and she needed me to go away. I remember we came back from a break after we presented and she came in and she printed out a picture of an award she claimed she got that we were able to show it was in her employment file that she had lied about it and they had found that out. That was one of the reasons they fired her. Right. They actually fact checked her resume and she came in physically with like the award. It was the strangest thing. It was like she had it in the car. I don't know where she went and got this from. She just was a very strange individual. The things that shouldn't have mattered, she shouldn't have cared one iota that there was this little thing about her claiming to get this award when she was in college. Like that shouldn't have been her focus, but that was her focus. She came back in from break to prove she had that award. It's very strange.
- [31:19]
Charlie Webster
And what was Corey's involvement in any of this?
- [31:22]
Nancy Moscatello
Corey testified to the fact that he too lost his job. Because I contacted his workplace, that didn't happen. He had already left that place of business, like two or three weeks before I ever called there. So I knew he was lying. He went on there and he. Because my lawyer took them through her, going back and forth to New York, all the treatment she had. Oh, so you went with your wife to appointments? Yes, I. I was there by her side. I was always with her.
- [31:53]
Charlie Webster
Amanda did post pictures of Corey and her in hospital throughout her blog. And even after she took it down, she still posted the two of them in hospital together on Facebook. Here's just one of the posts that she shared alongside a selfie she took of the two of them in hospital. Amanda in a hospital bed and Corey by her side.
- [32:16]
Amanda C. Riley
Special shout out to this student. It's been a crazy ride and he's been there the whole way. Right by my side holding our family together. Comes to all the doctors, surgeries and hospital trips and still works and loves on our boys. Thanks for being our rock.
- [32:35]
Nancy Moscatello
She never, ever produced anything to the judge to show that she had cancer, which could have been done in two seconds. She could have came in. Here's a note from a doctor. This is who it is. Judge, why don't you go call and you could talk all about my cancer because that would have been really bad for me. Right? That would have been the way to make me go away. Then we stated that many times over and there was never anything. When we were going to court for the restraining order, we had subpoenaed all documents. We had asked to subpoena documents from the medical facility that she was being treated at, which is Columbia, New York. They didn't have anything that they could release to us. And then they said what we do have and that we are able to share with you is not a medical record, but a letter that Amanda Riley wrote to Columbia. After I had talked to Columbia and sent them the blog links, they were quite concerned about what they saw on the blog. They reached out to Amanda and asked her to stop including them in the blog and basically a cease and desist letter was sent to her. And with that, she wrote the letter to them apologizing for wasting their time and explained why she did what she did.
- [34:03]
Charlie Webster
Here's a selection of excerpts from the letter that Amanda allegedly wrote to Columbia University Hospital.
- [34:13]
Amanda C. Riley
I intended to be public with my decision to stop treatment, but I panicked when people asked me what was next. I told them I would keep fighting. When the reality was I already notified my hospital I wouldn't. People kept asking what trial I was doing and how the treatment would go. So I lied. There's just not a nice way to say it. I somehow justified it in my mind that I would keep refusing treatment. And by people thinking I'm still in treatment, they wouldn't think I was a loser or a quitter when things got worse. I'm really sorry for doing that. It was a really bad, bad choice I wish I could take back, but I can't. I've pulled down the blog and again, apologize.
- [35:01]
Charlie Webster
The letter to Columbia was accepted into evidence, though the judge acknowledged it was hearsay evidence. Amanda's team denied she had ever read or written the letter. After two days on the stand, multiple witnesses, and testimony from Corey, Amanda, and Nancy, the final verdict was in.
- [35:24]
Nancy Moscatello
You're not panicked. You feel very empty, and I don't know what the word I'm looking for. A lot of apprehension, just stomach and knots. Like you're just kind of waiting. Baiting is hard, regardless if you feel, hey, everything went great. We were able to impeach you on several things. We knew we did, did what we set out to do, but, you know, we didn't know what to expect from the judge. So, yeah, there's this knots in your stomach feeling while you're waiting.
- [35:55]
Charlie Webster
And what did the judge rule?
- [35:57]
Nancy Moscatello
The judge said, found there's no reason for me to be restrained and that nothing was granted. There was no restraining order.
- [36:04]
Charlie Webster
So what was it like when the judge said there was no grounds?
- [36:08]
Nancy Moscatello
That was great. It was great. It was a big relief. He found that there was no. No reason to issue a restraining order. Her attorney did say, well, we feel we're going to appeal this. And I remember, like, I just looked at my attorneys, and the judge said, if that's the route you're going to go, then I think you should be warned that if you're going to file charges against Ms. Moscatello, then she will have every right to every last medical record of your client. So as long as you're aware that by going down that road, you should be aware that that opens up the door for Ms. Moscatello and her attorneys to every last bit of medical information on your client. There was a very small part of me that was like, oh, well, that would be interesting, you know, because you have to think like then that would be. That would be the end of it.
- [37:11]
Charlie Webster
How much did that cost in the end?
- [37:14]
Nancy Moscatello
Over $200,000.
- [37:17]
Charlie Webster
The judge ultimately found that Nancy was protected under freedom of the press granted by the First Amendment. However, had Nancy not been a part of the press, the judge said that if Ms. Moscatello, referring to Nancy, was not a journalist, I think I would conclude that barely, and just barely, there will be sufficient evidence to issue a protective order.
- [37:48]
Amanda C. Riley
What is Dax, Are you tracking all our cars on Carvana Value Tracker on all our devices? Yes, Kristen, yes, I am. Well, I've been looking for my phone for in dax's domain we all so we always know what our cars are worth.
- [38:02]
Nancy Moscatello
All of them? All of them.
- [38:04]
Amanda C. Riley
Value surge trucks up 3.9%. That's a great offer. I know. Sell.
- [38:10]
Nancy Moscatello
Sell.
- [38:12]
Amanda C. Riley
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- [40:20]
Nancy Moscatello
I was, you know, extremely annoyed, frustrated, angry that she would do this. But I have to say, it was not unexpected and not out of character for her. I mean, I was a really big problem for her, and so she threw everything she could at it.
- [40:40]
Charlie Webster
You have a daughter and partner. What did your own family think when it started to become like, you know, you have folders and folders and, you know, especially when she starts to drag you through a core. And what did they think? Did they question your almost obsession? It's almost like you both became obsessed with each other.
- [41:03]
Nancy Moscatello
My daughters were in high school, and my husband, you know, they know the work I do. I've worked in true crime for over 25 years in some capacity in everything from the OJ Simpson case, being involved heavily in that, to Amy Fish. Like, there's so many cases I worked at over the years. They were just used to me being whatever the case was I was working on of the story. You know, that's part of my life. Like you, this is what you do. They were very used to that. This was such an unusual case for me because it was happening in real time. They knew how much I loved my work and how good I was at it and that I wasn't going to stop. And we would joke about it. My husband definitely at one point, when they tried to serve papers for the harassment, his biggest thing was, you know, he said that this is coming to the next level now. They know where you live, they know who you are, and that we just pay more attention to comings and goings here. You know, like, just who's around and where we're at. It wasn't that he was fearful of her as much as the husband. The husband is a bodybuilder. He's a big guy. He seems like a hothead. Like, those are the things I could gather from what I was looking at and understanding. And that was more of the concern. That, boy, this guy's got to be really angry with you as well. If you are accurate and she does not have cancer, you are their worst nightmare. Because he knew. They knew I wouldn't stop. They knew that everybody is touched by cancer. Everybody has people that have died from cancer, close or family members. You know, we lost my sister, we lost my mother in law, we lost my father, like in a very short period of time, a lot of people to cancer. And he felt the same way I did, that this was someone that needed to stop doing this. It made me know what she was capable and know that she needed to be stopped even more because someone else wouldn't have had the ability to defend themselves like I did.
- [43:15]
Charlie Webster
The end of the civil harassment case sparked a chain reaction.
- [43:20]
Amanda C. Riley
She just kind of stopped going to church.
- [43:23]
Charlie Webster
I didn't question it.
- [43:24]
Amanda C. Riley
I didn't. You know, some people I know that you, sometimes you grow out of churches and you go find another church. So I kind of made that assumption.
- [43:30]
Nancy Moscatello
Maybe she just grew out of it.
- [43:31]
Amanda C. Riley
And found another church.
- [43:33]
Nancy Moscatello
But yeah, she just kind of just.
- [43:34]
Amanda C. Riley
Stopped going out of nowhere. I remember there would be moments I would catch myself, like, let me see how she's doing. I'll go on her page, you know.
- [43:41]
Charlie Webster
And I would see pictures of her.
- [43:42]
Amanda C. Riley
Again that she's struggling with cancer. I remember I checked on her page to see because I haven't heard from her. I seen her like in the hospital bed, like crying, like bald, you know, saying, I'm going through something so rough right now. The worst season of my life. And that was like, even then, I still was like, oh, she's still going through stuff. Like I didn't, still didn't think anything of it.
- [44:07]
Nancy Moscatello
Her blog was disabled. And, you know, and that's how I kept up on a lot of things.
- [44:11]
Amanda C. Riley
And it was just gone.
- [44:14]
Nancy Moscatello
I didn't get wind that anything was going on until I got that letter. The Department of Justice tracked me down and that's when I found out, because.
- [44:23]
Amanda C. Riley
I never thought she would ever, you.
- [44:24]
Nancy Moscatello
Know, lie about it.
- [44:25]
Amanda C. Riley
She comes off like a really trustworthy person. So I didn't really think that was out of my head thinking, like, she's making this up. You know, I was not emotionally ready. August 25th of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, I got out of like a call and I had emails from the Department of Justice. I had emails from family who had emails from the Department of Justice. And I had text messages because most of my close friends had given at some point. So they were contacted. I was home, babysitting and one of the parents, the One that donated $100, she called me. She says, mahasti I got this email from district Attorney about Amanda Riley. I was like, wait, what? Like this is crazy. Like, tell me this is not true. Like, this is nuts. I received a victim's notification from the Department of Justice. I opened up that email and read that she was being investigated. It was shocking to say the least. I was shook.
- [45:33]
Nancy Moscatello
Amanda took the blog down. She hit me with the restraining order and that went on for six months and then she was indicted.
- [45:50]
Charlie Webster
Scamander is hosted and produced by me, Charlie Webster and Produced by Jackson McLennan. Amanda's blog posts are read by ACT Kendall Horn Edit and theme music by Nico Polella Assistant Producer Casey Hurts Assistant Editor Seema Greywall Additional production support from Stephen Sletton, Will Hagel and Nicole Urban executive produced by me, Charlie Webster and Nancy Moscatello. Scamander is a Lionsgate Sound production engineered by Pilgrim Media.
- [46:24]
Amanda C. Riley
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Charlie Webster
Even if you have a baby.
- [46:45]
Amanda C. Riley
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