Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption iHeartPodcasts

An unconscious young woman in a room full of drugs: that’s the scene at the Hotel Constance in Pasadena, California. But when the hotel manager tries to call 911, the woman’s much older companion tells him that won’t be necessary – he’s a doctor. The manager makes the call anyway. And yet, when the police and paramedics arrive, this so-called doctor simply…walks away. And then the hotel manager learns who this man is: his name is Carmen Puliafito, and he’s the dean of the medical school at the University of Southern California (USC).
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LA Times Reporter Paul Pringle starts to investigate what really happened at the Hotel Constance. But there’s a surprising lack of a police paper trail, and the Pasadena Police are stonewalling at every turn. So is USC. But Paul has investigated the university before, and he has his sources. Still, there’s one missing piece to the puzzle: the identity of the young woman found in the hotel room. 
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With rock solid reporting that proves Carmen Puliafito was involved in the incident at the Hotel Constance, Paul and his editor take the story to the top brass at the LA Times. But the story is slow-walked, then killed by the top editors at the paper. And Paul starts to wonder: is it possible that his own paper doesn’t have the stomach to take on the powerful and influential USC?

 
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Paul and his editor decide to form a secret reporting team with four other reporters, out of sight of the top editors at The LA Times. Bit by bit, the team starts to unravel the truth of Puliafito’s double life, and his surprising circle of associates: drug users, dealers, and sex workers. And they might have finally found the identity of the young woman from the Hotel Constance: her name is Sarah Warren.
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The team tracks down the family of Sarah Warren, who have been desperate to get Puliafito out of their daughter’s life for years. The reporters discover that Puliafito’s control over vulnerable people struggling with drug addiction is far greater than they imagined. And Sarah is not the only young person to have come under his spell. 
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Sarah and her teenage brother Charles Warren go on the record with Paul to tell the whole sordid story. With a mountain of documents, shocking videos and on-record sources, the reporting team pushes the editors to finally publish. But the top brass continue to dilute and delay, and the reporting team considers taking drastic steps to make sure the story sees the light of day.

A note: for substance abuse treatment and mental health referrals, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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