All language subtitles for The.Age.of.Influence.S01E04.720p.WEB.h264-ETHEL

[weights clanging]

PERSON AS TYLER:
[exhales]

[weights clanging]

[inhaling and exhaling]

[rock music]

♪♪ ♪♪

When I first took steroids

it was no thought at all.

[exhales]

I wanted to get
fuckin' jacked.

Steroids took me far,

but it was never enough.

I always looked in the mirror
and seen myself as small,

even though everyone at the
gym would tell me I was huge.

People at the gym started
calling me Musclehead.

They would say,
"When are you gonna stop?"

I would say, "When I reach
320 pounds of pure beef."

[tense music]

RYAN:
Well, Musclehead320 was brash

and blatant with what
he was doing.

Just everything about him
screamed steroids.

♪♪ ♪♪

SHANE: People would see
this good-looking guy,

in, you know,
videos and stuff like that.

SHANE: And then you
start seeing his lifestyle

of driving around,
working out, steroids,

being a good father as well.

You know, he was a provider.

People loved him because,
you know, he was open.

He wasn't scared
to let people know, like,

"Yeah, this is me.

And this is me on steroids."

[tense rock music]

[dramatic music]

JOHN: It was Clark Kent

coming out of the phone booth

as Superman.

He was the Kim Kardashian
of juice.

And his followers grew
and grew and grew

as his body was growing
and growing and growing.

♪♪ ♪♪

THOMAS: Tyler filled a void
on social media,

and so many men followed
despite

in-your-face dangers
of steroids.

♪♪ ♪♪

AMY: I mean, it's
attention-grabbing, right?

- I think it suggests to people
that it's not a big deal.

"Look at me.

I'm making kind of a joke
out of it."

AMY: It's kind of like
a glamorization of

criminal, illegal life,

but that's not why we got
involved in the case.

DAVID:
He had gone from America's

top steroids influencer

to being one of America's
top steroids drug kingpins.

♪♪ ♪♪

[dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- [inhales and exhales]

♪♪ ♪♪

RYAN: In the gym,
you want to see the pump.

You want to see your muscles

when you're actually
working out...

♪♪ ♪♪

After you just finished
your set

when all the veins
and everything are there.

♪♪ ♪♪

You want to see the work

that you're actually
putting in.

[light string music]

My name is Ryan Schmidle.

I'm a social media,
fitness/sports influencer.

♪♪ ♪♪

I pretty much put
all my effort

and energy into
that bodybuilder-style

muscular strength training.

♪♪ ♪♪

And then the more
I got into it,

the more it became
an addiction.

♪♪ ♪♪

And it was like, "Okay,
I need to go to the gym today.

"I need to get
that mental release.

I need to feel that pump."

And then obviously
the more you do that

the physical changes
start to appear as well,

and it's just kind of
a snowball effect.

♪♪ ♪♪

People want to follow along
and see that progress.

I have around 600,000
total followers

between TikTok, Instagram,
and YouTube.

What's up, YouTube?

If you clicked on this video,
then you probably have

some questions, so I'm gonna
give you my full story.

People want to go with you
through ever mishap,

misstep,
and learn as you learn.

Ooh, am I still on gear?

No, I'm really not
running anything.

"Gear" is the gym bro and gym
community term for steroids.

♪♪ ♪♪

Being in the fitness space,

a lot of my colleagues
and friends have bought gear,

taken gear, and are posting
on social media.

Seeing people on social media
who are open

about what they were taking,

watching doctors break down,

uh, testosterone
replacement therapy

was super impactful
for my own research

and how I chose to move forward
with things.

♪♪ ♪♪

And I just kind of made
a decision.

Using steroids
isn't really the road

where I see myself
in the fitness space

and social media in general.

But the internet is very,
very good at curating content

that it knows you want to see.

So if you're following gym
pages and fitness accounts,

that's what
they're gonna show you.

If you're constantly
looking up content

that has something simple as,
like, the needle emoji,

they're gonna give you
more content

that has the needle emoji.

[rock music]

♪♪ ♪♪

My initial reactions
to Musclehead320 were,

I know a lot of people
who are like that

who are doing the same thing

but not to that level.

- YouTube, I'm here.

I'm pretty much gonna try
to be as raw as possible

without getting arrested.

I'll include
fuckin' taking shots on camera

if I have to.

♪♪ ♪♪

RYAN: What he was doing
was just blatant,

out in the open.

He was literally on steroids
saying word for word

what he was doing.

And Instagram
didn't really notice,

didn't really care.

At the time,
it was kind of the Wild West.

[gunshot]

So he saw that opportunity,

and he just kind of
capitalized on that

posting the stuff
that nobody else was posting.

♪♪ ♪♪

[lively string music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- So welcome
to the inner sanctum--

here we are--

where you'll find me most days.

♪♪ ♪♪

We've got over there
a sculpture

of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As a kid I grew up
looking at Arnold as this icon

as I was a young,
aspiring bodybuilder.

And I remember I met him
in 2002.

I put out my hand and said,

"It's super-fantastic
to meet you."

And he was like, "Wow,
you do an impression of me."

And I'm like, "Yeah."
He goes, "It's good."

[tense music]

My name is Rick Collins,
and I'm an attorney.

Mostly my work is in the area
of dietary supplements,

performance-enhancing drugs,
anabolic steroids,

the kind of drugs
and illegal substances

most lawyers don't really
get involved with.

[rock music]

I come from the background
of health and fitness

as a former
competitive bodybuilder

and gym manager and trainer

and totally-into-nutrition
dude.

♪♪ ♪♪

[light music]

Through the years
I've represented

lots and lots of folks
who were involved

with anabolic steroids

either possessing them
or importing them

or selling them or using them
to cheat in sports.

I love--I love what I do.

♪♪ ♪♪

Because of the nature
of my practice

involving anabolic steroids

I was contacted
by Tyler Bauman.

I, uh, had some conversations
with him.

♪♪ ♪♪

And the further I delved,
the more

I kind of understood
who he was.

Tyler had a persona
that he had created

on Instagram and other
social media platforms.

And this was a persona
called Musclehead320.

- Dispatch, dispatch,
uh, code 99.

I need some motherfuckin'
trenbolone.

RICK: Musclehead320
populated Instagram

glorifying steroid use

and the visual appeal
of what steroids could do

for the way somebody looks.

And the character
become very popular

to the point where he had over
a million hits on YouTube.

♪♪ ♪♪

Certainly the adulation,
the popularity,

the ego-stroking associated
with that is wonderful,

♪♪ ♪♪

But Musclehead320 was a very,
very different entity

than the Tyler that I met,

who was much more reserved.

[light piano music]

And the further I delved
into his background,

where he came from,

the more I kind of understood
his journey.

Charles Dickens wrote
some stories of some very,

very bad, miserable childhoods.

He would listen
to what happened to Tyler

and would probably say
he's got to up his game.

♪♪ ♪♪

RAPPER: ♪♪ When I look
at the stars I see us ♪♪

♪♪ Me, you, the past,
the future, everything ♪♪

♪♪ I'm ready ♪♪

♪♪ I told them already ♪♪

♪♪ Yeah, I be in the clouds,
man ♪♪

♪♪ The kid is so heady ♪♪

♪♪ The flows that I jettison
are that of awareness ♪♪

♪♪ Doesn't need to be defined ♪♪

♪♪ Big Bang,
we all came from the stars ♪♪

♪♪ We meant to shine ♪♪

ZACH: This is actually
the house...

SHANE: It's the house.
ZACH: Where it all happened.

This is where
the whole journey started.

This is where Tyler
and his family

moved in with us.

First floor right here.

There's a door on the left.

We all stayed crunched up
in this place.

I mean, we pretty much
grew up here.

We became brothers,
you know, here.

SHANE: Yeah, pretty much.

ZACH:
This is where it all began.

[string music]

My name is Zachary Bradwell,

and my relationship
with Tyler,

honestly, there's really
no blood relation,

but we treat each other
like brothers.

♪♪ ♪♪

SHANE:
My name is Shane Bradwell.

Tyler, growing up,
he was my best friend.

His mom, my mom,
they was

really, really close.

So he was like family.

[dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

ZACH: He was a skinny,
lanky kid with a baby face,

soft-spoken but goofy.

He would make faces
and do spontaneous things

to kind of make you laugh.

He had a great personality.

♪♪ ♪♪

But growing up,
it was pretty tough for him.

His father wasn't around.

And his mother
was in relationships at times

with guys that were
on different substances.

- Absolutely
they were struggling.

[somber music]

At one point
they moved in with us,

'cause things got
kind of tough.

ZACH: It was rough growing up
in this area.

You know,
there was double-homicides

a couple streets down.

There were gunshots.

You know, you'll walk by
someone on the ground

not knowing if they're dead
or not,

you know,
just laying there.

A lot of people selling drugs.

You know, it was a tough place
to grow up in.

[dramatic music]

Tyler, as far as school,

he kind of was the kid
getting suspended

for getting into a fight,

getting suspended
for this or that.

♪♪ ♪♪

RICK: His struggles led him to
just drop out of school at 13,

and he began
selling marijuana.

[upbeat funky music]

RAPPER:
♪♪ Ah, there you go, yeah ♪♪

- He was the weed man

selling dime bags and stuff.

RAPPER:
♪♪ Ah, yeah, there you go ♪♪

SHANE: He liked being
that important person,

you know, playing that role,
hustling.

He also needed that money.

[ominous music]

RICK: He quickly
started racking up

a bunch of juvenile arrests,

low-level crimes, drug cases,
just one after another.

♪♪ ♪♪

By the time that he got to 18,

he sold cocaine

and wound up getting
a sentence

of five to seven years
in a state penitentiary.

[door slams]

[piano music]

ZACH: When you're a kid
and all the things

that are going on around you,
you feel like

in a way there's nothing
you could do about it

until you get big,
until you get strong.

[peppy music]

Tyler had a certain idea
of what he wanted to be,

and I think that's exactly
what he became.

[dramatic music]

THOMAS: Being so cavalier
about steroid use

makes other men that are
not experienced think,

"Look at him.

It's fine."

It's not fine.

You're gonna pay the piper,
guys.

♪♪ ♪♪

[tense piano music]

MIKE: My name's Mike Allen.

And I've known Tyler
for about 17 years.

The first time I really met
Tyler and got to know Tyler

was inside an adult jail
when I was 17 years old.

And he was 19 years old
looking at a 5 to 7.

You know, those are like
our prime years

when you're younger.

♪♪ ♪♪

He took me under his wing,

so people weren't gonna try
to victimize me,

so I think that says a lot,
you know,

about who he is.

[ominous music]

SHANE: If you don't know
anything about, you know,

prison and jail,

basically you got 24 hours
and not a lot of distractions.

How you gonna get time
to pass by?

So you end up working out.

MIKE: For Tyler it definitely
became a part of his routine

to work out.

You know, getting big I think
is something that gave him

something to focus on.

[tense music]

PERSON AS TYLER:
I put in a lot of hard work,

but my body just
didn't respond

like I wanted it to.

I seen a lot of people around
me get a lot bigger than me

a lot faster than me.

[tense music]

RICK:
While Tyler was in prison

he met a man
named Phil Goodwin,

who essentially taught Tyler

everything he needed to know
about anabolic steroids.

PERSON AS TYLER:
I knew when I got home

I was gonna use steroids.

I was addicted to fitness
and building my body.

♪♪ ♪♪

RICK: Tyler gets released
from prison.

And now Tyler begins using
anabolic steroids,

begins loving them,

and is getting great results.

♪♪ ♪♪

THOMAS:
Anabolic androgenic steroids

are essentially
synthetic copies

of the male hormone
testosterone.

99% of steroid users
are common people

doing it for personal gain
just to look better,

to just make that ass
a little--a little harder,

to model that body.

♪♪ ♪♪

My name
is Dr. Thomas O'Connor.

I'm known as the Anabolic Doc
on YouTube.

I used steroids
when I was quite young

and realized
that it's very complicated.

Obviously it can be dangerous.

And men that use
anabolic steroids

really need medical support.

It's not illegal
for a physician

to prescribe steroids.

That's why
about four years ago

I decided to venture into
social media.

♪♪ ♪♪

My message to men that are
using anabolic steroids

is that if you use
anabolic steroids

from an influencer,
from a friend,

from completely your own doing,

you're going to have
complications.

And it's not just
illicit legally.

It's known to have
bad side effects,

heart disease,
liver toxicities,

potential mood disorders,

of course hair loss,

testicular atrophy,
infertility problems,

prostate problems,

♪♪ ♪♪

- What the fuck?

You take steroids, my guy?

Stop playing.

That would have been
my reaction.

I didn't really say that
in real life.

But I was pretty surprised,
you know,

about the whole thing.

♪♪ ♪♪

ZACH: The first time
that I seen Tyler

in his newly acquired muscle,
it surprised me.

I was, like, holy--holy shit.

♪♪ ♪♪

MIKE: After prison,
I think for Tyler

a lot of it,
the building his physique up,

was a way that he could really

build himself forward.

RICK: Tyler is getting bigger,
he's getting more confident,

he's getting more powerful.

And along comes social media.

And Instagram, of course,

is a platform
that's based on visuals.

It's all about pictures.

It's all about how things look.

And it's the perfect place

for Tyler to present an image
of what he's accomplished

with anabolic steroids.

And he creates Musclehead320.

[rock music]

- What's up, guys?

Just got out of the gym.

Just did some legs
and some biceps.

- It was a way of life for him.

It was a daily focus for him,
you know, using the steroids,

you know, sharing
that information with others.

THOMAS: It's interesting
that bodybuilders

and steroids users,

they're not doing it for women.

That's caveman stuff
between me and you, brother.

- A lot of you guys
have been asking me

to do videos on acne
and hair loss.

Seems like
it's the main two concerns

for people

in the bodybuilding
"steroid industry."

MIKE: A big part
of why I think he gained

so much traction online

was because he was willing
to be so honest about it.

- I've had a little bit
of hair loss myself.

And I've had some acne.

[dramatic music]

THOMAS:
Social media has propelled

anabolic steroid use
because of the

nature of social media
of looking at something

and wanting it.

RICK: Social media
put steroids on steroids

by promoting images
of physicality

that can only be attained
by most people

with some level
of chemical enhancement

and just completely
upping the game

for what the physical standard
of the typical fit man

should look like.

[dramatic string music]

THOMAS: Bigorexia is
a body dysmorphic condition.

It's reverse anorexia.

It's essentially men
that suffer

with obsessive-compulsive
thoughts of,

they're too small.

SINGER: ♪♪ I'm unstoppable,
make way ♪♪

♪♪ I'm bringing the boom ♪♪

THOMAS: Despite
getting bigger, stronger,

you have
this insatiable feeling

that you're just weak
and feckless

and small and useless.

It never leaves.

And it becomes a drive

that's never satisfied.

[dramatic string music]

RYAN: Body dysmorphia is 100%
just as big for young men,

young boys growing up

as it is for young women,

because social media
doesn't discriminate.

It pushes content like that

to both sides of the equation.

Everybody who has
a social media account

is going to be shown

somebody that they think
they should look like.

RYAN:
Musclehead320 is being

more open and honest
compared to other people

on social media,

because he is saying
he's on stuff,

whereas other people
are hiding.

But personally
I don't really see the good

in what he's doing,

because he's trying to push
an illegal substance.

- I love what steroids do
to the body.

I love the feeling
of going to the gym.

It just--
it just gets me high.

It's just a rush.
I just love it.

[light funky music]

RICK:
Obviously steroids,

while they're
a controlled substance,

they can be prescribed
by doctors.

But most of the people
who are using it nonmedically,

cosmetically are using it
essentially illegally

in a black-market way.

So those who are advising
people of what to do

are typically
other people using steroids.

♪♪ ♪♪

MIKE: When you see anybody
at that size

you're gonna take their
recommendation seriously.

♪♪ ♪♪

That's who gave him community
and followers

and people who could identify
with him.

♪♪ ♪♪

The presence that he had
did kind of take off.

Once people understood the
knowledge that Tyler had...

♪♪ ♪♪

And would share.

PERSON AS TYLER:
My Instagram page became

almost like a steroid forum.

The comment section would have
people chatting about steroids

and telling each other
where to buy.

ZACH: He showed me the page.

He was just real nonchalant
about it like,

"Hey, you know, this is my page
on Instagram, Musclehead320."

I didn't realize how popular
or, you know,

they type of influence
that he had at the time.

♪♪ ♪♪

MIKE: Bodybuilding world
is its own niche,

but he found this niche
in it, you know,

with the humor
and the honesty

about what's really going on
and you use it

or how you obtain it
or all of that.

PERSON AS TYLER:
I would do reviews

of certain brands.

If a company's brand was bad

I would destroy them
on my Instagram.

Videos got a million views.

My Instagram had about
100,000 followers.

My Snapchat was up to, like,
400,000.

[tense music]

THOMAS: I'm an influencer,
and I love it.

♪♪ ♪♪

But it does come with,
in my opinion,

a great responsibility

to be ethically correct
to people.

♪♪ ♪♪

Tyler's making fun
of something

that's so deadly and serious

to so many people
that they're entering into

a world of steroids,

and they're gonna regret it.

♪♪ ♪♪

MIKE: At the end of the day
people are gonna purchase

and use steroids.

If you have somebody like Tyler
that'll inform you

about how to use them safely,

I mean, that's invaluable.

♪♪ ♪♪

Having come
from that background

with more illicit substances
made him comfortable

with steroids and being
more open about all that.

[rock music]

PERSON AS TYLER: I just had
the bulletproof attitude.

Companies would be
constantly messaging me

to get featured.

Everyone wanted air time
on my page.

The better I looked

the more money I made

and the more people
followed my page.

♪♪ ♪♪

RICK: Musclehead320
became this alter ego,

this grandiose,

over-the-top,

didn't care about anything,

almost dark
superhero-like caricature

of empowerment

fueled by steroids.

This was not Tyler,

the kid who had
some body image issues,

a kid who was struggling.

Now you had this character
who was just the ultimate

Instagram badass.

♪♪ ♪♪

But it's a slippery slope.

♪♪ ♪♪

And you can ultimately
be attracted to behaviors

that you might never have
engaged in

but for social media.

♪♪ ♪♪

[tense music]

TYLER: The best way
to start your day,

a little bit of testosterone.

Let's do it.

♪♪ ♪♪

JOHN:
Musclehead was the king

of an entire community.

People loved him.
They revered him.

They talked about
Musclehead Nation.

♪♪ ♪♪

They called him
the lord of tren,

"tren" referring
to trenbolone,

the best steroid
on the market.

And his Instagram feed
was a showcase for steroids.

♪♪ ♪♪

My name is John Tucker,

and for most of my
journalism career

I've focused on long-form
magazine-style stories...

[notification chimes]

Where you can see
kind of through the lens

of the human condition.

♪♪ ♪♪

When I reached out to Tyler,

I was just curious about him.

And I wanted to find out more.

He was really nice
on the phone,

not like I had expected him
to be

in terms of personality.

♪♪ ♪♪

Online he's brash and bold
and brazen and outrageous.

And first impression
on the phone,

really, really smart,
soft-spoken, quiet, shy,

just very mild-mannered.

♪♪ ♪♪

RICK:
Somewhere within Tyler

that Musclehead320 character
existed.

♪♪ ♪♪

But I don't think that part

ever could have really

been expressed

if it wasn't for social media.

♪♪ ♪♪

SHANE: If you're involved
with social media and you're,

like, up there in followers,
there's, like, a demand

for you to perform
or meet up to that demand.

♪♪ ♪♪

People want to see crazy,
you give them crazy.

People want to see ugly,
you give them ugly.

Whatever they want to see,
you're gonna cater to them.

[cat snarls]

Tyler being Musclehead320,

it's not something you could
just, you know, do once.

You have to keep going.

You're like a slave
to social media.

♪♪ ♪♪

TYLER: So it became
all about the likes,

all about the engagements,
all about the followers.

RICK: At that point
his steroid dealer,

Phil, sees potential.

♪♪ ♪♪

Phil approaches him with
the idea of making money

selling steroids
by using this character

that Tyler's created.

- Ready for a complete
nourishing breakfast, Thomas?

RICK: In other words,
using Musclehead320

the way Tony the Tiger
was used

to market Frosted Flakes.

- It's great!

♪♪ ♪♪

PERSON AS TYLER:
It wasn't only Phil.

I saw an opportunity
for myself.

Everyone was looking for my
yay or nay on steroid brands.

And other companies
are making this money

off my Instagram page.

Why would I not create
my own brand and pretend

it's the best steroids
I ever used?

And maybe I could actually
make it the best.

RICK: So Tyler and Phil
create this partnership,

and Phil comes up
with the name Onyx

to brand to the company.

And Tyler thought
it sounded cool.

♪♪ ♪♪

JOHN: He says, "Hey, guys.

I'm trying out
this new product."

It's called Onyx.
Check it out.

And he was flexing his bicep,

and on top of his bicep
was a supersize bottle of Onyx.

And he basically said,
"If you want to check it out

use this link."

The link went
to another Instagram page.

It was called Onyx Steroids.

[bright chime]

RICK: If the popularity
of Musclehead320

prior to the Onyx venture
had already skyrocketed,

now that synergy
just exploded.

PERSON AS TYLER:
AS soon as I posted Onyx

on my Instagram...

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

It was nonstop emails.

It was like having
a money-printing machine.

RICK: As the brand
became successful,

the money started rolling in,

so much money that at some
point they begin recruiting

family and friends
to help in the operation.

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

MIKE: I was clean.

I was out.

I was living
a different lifestyle.

But I was glad for him.

Where he came from
to where he ended up, I mean,

that's just a huge leap.

♪♪ ♪♪

I mean, he essentially came
from opening the fridge,

no food in there

to opening the door

to a really nice home,
really nice cars,

and a lifestyle
where he could go anywhere,

do anything.

JOHN: He moved his family
into a mansion

in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts,

[seagulls squawking]

He took vacations
in the Caribbean.

♪♪ ♪♪

They drove Lamborghinis.

He was actually really trying
to give

his three kids something
that he never had.

He was a drug dealer.

But beyond that--

and I know
it's a big "beyond"--

he was devoted to his family
and generous to them.

RICK: You go from this
real rags to real riches.

All of the things
that you would associate

with a successful
drug trafficking enterprise,

they were enjoying all of that.

♪♪ ♪♪

But one of the great ironies
in this case was,

essentially they used
the name Onyx.

And Onyx was the name
of a legitimate

cancer drug company.

These guys used their logo
and Onyx label.

And ultimately that became
very, very important.

♪♪ ♪♪

[dramatic music]

AMY: In May 2015

I received information
from investigators

that they had received
a report

from a pharmaceutical company
that it

made a particular
cancer-treatment drug,

and someone was making
pharmaceuticals

using their Onyx
Pharmaceuticals trademarks.

- I thought, interesting,
should be easy,

really not that big of a deal.

That was before we dove in.

[tense music]

As we started pulling threads
it became clear

that it was much more
than we had initially thought.

♪♪ ♪♪

It wasn't just an instance
of a handful of transactions

using a trademark
of a pharmaceutical company.

It was a real large-scale
entrenched

steroid distribution
organization.

♪♪ ♪♪

AMY: So we started looking
at Tyler Bauman,

who went by the moniker
Musclehead320.

Because it was clear that
he was the biggest promoter

of Onyx Pharmaceutical-branded
steroids.

[tense music]

My name is Amy Burkart.

I was the chief
of the cybercrime unit

at the District
of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office.

♪♪ ♪♪

DAVID:
My name is David D'Addio.

I was with the Department
of Justice

as an assistant U.S. attorney
in Massachusetts

in the cybercrime unit.

♪♪ ♪♪

This is really where Tyler's
presenting himself

as in expert,
almost like a scientist.

He's putting himself
front and center here

suggesting he's using
these things,

he's the expert,
and it's based on experience.

♪♪ ♪♪

All different kinds
of steroid compounds

and injectables, things that he
would have been reviewing

on Instagram.

And you can see in the corner
there's even

the Onyx-branded
pharmaceuticals.

♪♪ ♪♪

AMY: He was not saying
that he was involved

in making
Onyx Pharmaceuticals.

He was saying he was
an Onyx-sponsored athlete

and talking about the company
as if it was something separate

from him but one which he was
promoting as being

something he was using and
something that was effective.

PERSON AS TYLER:
People didn't realize

Musclehead and Onyx
were the same person.

I played it off pretty good.

I would post a bunch of
different brands on my page,

not just all Onyx,
so it threw people off.

- The advertisements
on Instagram

asked potential purchasers
to email

a Onyx Pharmaceutical address,

then they received
an email back

with a list of prices
from an email account

that incorporate the name
Big Dick.

So it was called colloquially
the Big Dick Account.

And we can see the location
where people were logging into

the Big Dick Account.

And it was coming
from Tyler Bauman's house.

So we can see
that Tyler Bauman's home

is being used to coordinate
the purchases.

He is having
the communications

with people who want to buy
the product.

But we never see any product
coming out of his house.

- And so you start to try
to pull together through

maybe it's phone records--

who is Tyler Bauman
talking to?

And then you find other types
of digital evidence,

IP addresses that come back
to residential locations.

And you kind of
stitch this together

little by little

and see that it spiderwebs out
from Tyler Bauman

to a bunch of other people.

AMY: All right,
why don't we map it out?

[tense music]

Tyler Bauman was the face
of the organization.

♪♪ ♪♪

He was the one
who was engaging

on Instagram and overtly,

and covertly he was the one
who was handling

all of the sales.

♪♪ ♪♪

Another major player
was Robert Medeiros.

He was the primary shipper
that is sending

the product out.

And then there were a number
of individuals

who picked up money

that was being sent
by customers

from various money remitters.

Those included the mother
of his children,

Tyler Bauman's girlfriend,
Katie Green.

So I've got
the different pieces,

but the missing piece is, where
are the steroids being made.

♪♪ ♪♪

- YouTube, I'm here.

I'm just gonna be doing
a bunch of shit about steroids

and some transformations
and whatever else

the fuck I can think of.

♪♪ ♪♪

AMY:
There was a lot about Tyler

that made it clear he wasn't

the person
actually creating the drug.

- Right, that was inconsistent
with his persona.

I mean,
my initial reaction was,

this guy looks kind of like
a knucklehead.

This is not a guy who's running

a multimillion-dollar
steroid enterprise.

He didn't seem like
he would have

been manufacturing steroids
with precision.

♪♪ ♪♪

So have to figure out,
well, who's making them?

- That led the agents
to begin surveillance.

♪♪ ♪♪

We had a number of people
following in cars

and watching locations.

We also used GPS trackers.

♪♪ ♪♪

SHANE: It's cat and mouse.

Anybody doing anything illegal
is the mouse.

And law enforcement
is the cat.

So it's always a game
that you're playing.

[electronic beeping]

AMY: We were able to trace
the car of Robbie Medeiros,

the primary shipper
at the time--

using a GPS tracking warrant--
to a parking lot,

and the agents observed
multiple times

someone opening the back
of his car and hours later

Robbie Medeiros
coming to the parking lot,

opening the back
of that same car,

removing a package,

putting it into his car,

and driving away.

That someone was...

Philip Goodwin,

a business associate
of Tyler Bauman's.

They had a tanning salon
together.

And that gave us

the strong sense
that Phil Goodwin was the one

who was making the drugs.

[tense music]

DAVID: The agents conducted
a trash pull

outside his house,
meaning they literally

went through his garbage.

They pretended to be
sanitation workers,

pick up the trash,
open it up,

and what do they find?

[camera shutter clicking]

Discarded packages

and bits of lab equipment

he needs
to actually make the drugs.

♪♪ ♪♪

And some of those packages
came from Melissa Sclafani.

So that's now
another connection

leading us to a different spot.

JOHN: Melissa Sclafani
was the local banker

who lived in Gloucester.

And she was a friend of Phil's
and got to know Tyler.

So they began putting
surveillance on her as well.

♪♪ ♪♪

AMY: Melissa Sclafani
played an important role

in the organization
in two different ways.

She handled logistics

ordering the supplies
for Phil,

the vials, the filters,
the raw steroids.

And she also,
along with Bauman and Goodwin,

ran a tanning salon business
called Wicked Tan.

- The tanning salon itself
was not a successful business.

The hours were erratic.

The equipment didn't work.

The stuff that they would sell
at the retail counter

was all expired and gross.

But the whole idea
of Wicked Tan

was essentially to launder
money for this enterprise.

- We calculated that
the criminal drug conspiracy

would have netted
well over $2 million.

♪♪ ♪♪

On April 6, 2017,
Melissa Sclafani reached out

to Tyler Bauman
and tried to encourage him

to make the tanning salon
a better business.

And, uh, Bauman didn't think
it was a great idea.

- Yeah, Bauman texted her,

"Do people actually tan there?
LOL."

AMY: And she said,
"About 15 people a day."

- Bauman responds,
"Even if we dropped 20K into it

we'd never see
that money back."

- "I get what you're saying,
but we can't run a biz

"if everything is crap.

"A salon with no music.

"Come on, it doesn't
even have spray tan.

Like, it's a tanning salon."

- "It's there to wash money.

The IRS don't care
if we have a radio."

- You don't get a lot
of money-laundering cases

where the defendant
actually says

"the business is there
to wash money."

So this is
pretty strong evidence.

[tense music]

DAVID:
After about two years into

the Musclehead Onyx operation,

a couple red flags sprung up.

♪♪ ♪♪

There was a shipment
that had been opened

and taped back.

And one of Tyler's
money collectors

basically said, "This guy's
been following me around

"all day.

"He's definitely following me,
and I can't shake him."

PERSON AS TYLER:
I could feel the feeling

of impending doom.

Moments that were supposed
to be filled with happiness

were overtaken by paranoia.

I went to Florida
and put a down payment

on a beautiful home,

came back and paid
over 11 grand

to movers to move us.

We set the date
for April 14th.

JOHN:
Tyler had made his millions,

and he was planning
to move his family to Florida.

But there were a couple signs

that led him to think
that he was being watched...

[camera shutter clicking]

Which he was.

♪♪ ♪♪

PERSON AS TYLER:
April 11th.

I was laying in my son's
big car bed

till he fell asleep
in my arms.

I kissed him good night

and went downstairs
and loaded up my needle.

Little did I know this would
be the last injection I did

and also the last time
I kissed my son.

[ominous music]

♪♪ ♪♪

PERSON AS TYLER:
April 12th.

My eyes opened,
and I just felt uneasy.

The birds stopped chirping,

and the air was still.

Jumped out of bed and started
to walk toward the window

when all of a sudden
I heard

boom, boom.

I looked at my fiancée Katie,
and her eyes popped wide open.

I said, "No.
No, no, no, no."

I knew what time it was.

♪♪ ♪♪

DAVID: There's more than 100
armed men in camo,

cars up and down the street,

and they raid his home,
and they arrest him.

♪♪ ♪♪

[radio chatter,
[sirens wailing]

AMY: The scene at the house
was difficult,

because Tyler and Katie,

both of them
were being arrested.

And they had young children.

That's a very difficult aspect
of any case like this

when there are innocent
children involved.

♪♪ ♪♪

MIKE: When I first heard
about the arrest,

it was heartbreaking.

There was a lot of concern,

you know,
for him at that point.

♪♪ ♪♪

ZACH:
Honestly, it crushed me.

You know, all kinds of things
went through my mind.

"Oh, my God. What is it?"

You know.
"What's going on?"

It's your brother, you know,
being taken away.

[somber music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- "Free Musclehead."

"The man, the myth,
the legend."

[string music]

After Tyler Bauman
was arrested

his friends
in the bodybuilding community

did try to find ways
to kind of support him.

You've got people
with T-shirts

who are clearly fans
of the character.

♪♪ ♪♪

These are supportive comments,
and you realize it wasn't

just about selling steroids.

It was about
talking to people.

For better or worse,

this is a guy who touched
so many lives

of people who really
supported him.

♪♪ ♪♪

- Unfortunately, there was
clear and convincing evidence

that the feds had

a major case against Tyler.

♪♪ ♪♪

DAVID:
We had all of this evidence.

We had communications from
Tyler Bauman's cell phone

where he's talking
about laundering money.

We had in hand all of
the manufacturing equipment,

all of the packaging,
all of the steroid vials.

I mean, any judge is gonna
look at that and say,

"What are we doing here?

"Let's get the show
on the road."

They're guilty."

[tense music]

AMY: Tyler Bauman was charged
with conspiracy

to distribute
controlled substances,

conspiracy to trafficking
counterfeit drugs,

and conspiracy to engage
in money laundering.

JOHN: So Tyler ultimately
pleaded guilty,

and this really became
a courtroom battle

about sentencing.

♪♪ ♪♪

RICK: So charges are filed,

and I looked at it initially

as another anabolic steroid
trafficking conspiracy

of which I've handle more than
I can even count and remember.

♪♪ ♪♪

But as the facts unfolded
and presented themselves,

it became something
very, very different.

There were three problems.

The first was Tyler's record.

Tyler had two prior
felony convictions for drugs.

He was what's considered
a career offender.

Number two,
the use of the Onyx trademark,

the choice of using the logo
and name

of a cancer drug company.

And then we had, frankly,
the success.

Because of his influence,
he made a lot, a lot,

a lot of money,

according the prosecution
1.5 to 3.5 million

just on the Onyx products
alone.

When you put
those three together

we're talking 188
to 235 months,

15 to 20 years in prison.

♪♪ ♪♪

The challenge was,

Tyler needed to convince
the judge

that that was too harsh.

♪♪ ♪♪

JOHN: Tyler has said,
"I'm sorry."

He says he did the wrong thing,
and he regrets it.

♪♪ ♪♪

PERSON AS TYLER:
"Dear Your Honor,

"I have made a lot of mistakes
in my life.

"But this is by far
my biggest."

"I made a stupid mistake
to supply these people

"with anabolic steroids.

"I always wanted more
for my kids and my family.

"They're my whole world.

"Without them,
I am a broken man.

"I'd give anything
to hit rewind.

"I just hope that this court
can give me a prison term

"that allows me to have some
part in my children's lives

before they are grown."

RICK: I was thinking more
somewhere in the line

of five,
maybe seven years

would be
the appropriate sentence.

But that's not what happened.

[gavel bangs]

- A local Shrewsbury couple
has been sentenced

to serve time in federal prison
for charges of conspiracy

to distribute
counterfeit steroids.

♪♪ ♪♪

RICK: The judge ultimately
sentenced Tyler

to ten years in prison.

So it was a heavy, heavy hit.

[somber music]

♪♪ ♪♪

MIKE: We all understand
the reality and the risk

that comes with
an illicit lifestyle,

but then ten-year sentence,
you know,

for such a nonviolent part,

that's, you know,
hard to understand.

♪♪ ♪♪

ZACH: You know,
the situation now with him

not being able to be there
for his kids, like,

I can imagine
that's killing him right now.

♪♪ ♪♪

AMY: Tyler's a person that
made some very bad choices

and is dealing with
significant consequences

for those choices.

[dramatic string music]

DAVID:
I don't think there's any way

Tyler Bauman could have
perpetuated this crime

without social media.

There's just no way he could
have developed the market

for the goods he was selling.

♪♪ ♪♪

RYAN: I'm not sure if
Musclehead has been replaced

by another influencer
that blatantly

and that out in the open.

But I definitely know
that there's people out there

who are doing that same thing.

♪♪ ♪♪

RICK: The jury is out
on what responsibility

a social media influencer has.

♪♪ ♪♪

Are we sending
the wrong messages

about being maybe overly
obsessed with appearance?

Are we driving vanity
in this society by,

you know,
encouraging people

to look in ways
that maybe nature

doesn't even make possible?

Those are concerns.

[dramatic music]

JOHN:
In the end the question is,

was Musclehead addicted
to the body image

or was he addicted
to the fame?

And I would argue that,
yeah, he loved looking jacked,

absolutely,
but in the end

his bigger addiction
was Instagram.

RAPPER: ♪♪ When things go wrong
as they sometimes will ♪♪

♪♪ When the road that you're
trudging seems all uphill ♪♪

SHANE:
You ain't seen the last

of Tyler "Musclehead320"
Bauman.

I think he's in jail right now
cooking up

some million-dollar ideas.

Legal ones.

[engine revving]

So just strap in,

'cause, uh,

he's gonna take you
for a ride.

[engine revving]

[gentle piano music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪