Pro and Con

Hoffman also learned that Harlan's first cousin was headline-grabbing killer Robert Harlan, convicted of raping and murdering casino waitress Rhonda Maloney in 1994 and paralyzing a woman who tried to rescue her. He also discovered that Robert's father and Amadeus's uncle, Belt Harlan, had been a Denver police officer who'd made headlines for violent outbursts; he had shot his wife in the stomach in what was allegedly an accident and had brandished his gun in an altercation at a fried-chicken restaurant.

As newspapers and even the news program Inside Edition soon reported, the BMW wasn't the only vehicle Harlan conned his way into by claiming to be a Bronco. He nabbed an $11,000 Suzuki GSX-R motorcycle from Grand Prix Motor Sports in Sheridan and even scored an $18,000 Maxima from a John Elway dealership. "He said he was on the practice squad," Elway admitted to the Denver Post at the time. "We have a bunch of [Broncos] who always go [to the dealership], so we obviously believed him."

Harlan used the same story to convince several women to pay for hotel rooms and dinners, to buy him gifts like snow tires and gold dice and even bail him out of jail, promising to reimburse them once he got his first NFL check. He persuaded one to let him borrow her car, then removed her stereo because he said he wanted to replace it. He never did.

"He found the key to the city by saying he was a Bronco," says Hoffman. "It just opened up all kinds of doors for him."

Hoffman obtained Harlan's cell-phone number and called him up. "He basically said, 'If you can catch me, good for you, but I am not coming in,'" the detective remembers. "'If you are such a good detective, come find me.'"

A few days later, Hoffman got a call from NFL security. They'd received a fax from a teacher in Lubbock, Texas — the location of football powerhouse Texas Tech, as well as the town where several of Harlan's relatives lived. It turned out that a man going by the name of Naudeus Harlan was speaking to local school classes there about being a Bronco. Hoffman contacted Lubbock police and told them to be on the lookout for a white BMW 325. They called him back the next day; they had Harlan in the back of a squad car. The Littleton detective asked to speak to him. "What do you think of my detective skills now?" he asked Harlan over the phone.

Harlan eventually cooperated with Arapahoe County prosecutors, pleading guilty to theft and aggravated auto theft — but not before getting in some last words. In a jailhouse interview with a Lubbock television station, Harlan blamed police corruption and his relation to Robert Harlan for his problems with the law — and vowed to hire O.J. Simpson lawyer Johnnie Cochran to fight for his freedom.

"I haven't forged anybody's name. I haven't gone and bought a car," he insisted. "I haven't done these things they say I'm doing."

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The entirety of Harlan21 marched into the old YMCA building at 3540 East 31st Avenue like a well-oiled machine. Sharply dressed and confident, the employees flashed business cards emblazoned with the fanciful names Harlan had assigned them. In the middle of it all, talking about his Super Bowl rings and his friendship with NBA stars, was Harlan. "This is the facility I want," he said about the building. "I gotta have it."

"When he walked in the door, he was bigger than life," says Anthony Coleman, the realtor representing the building's seller. "We were hanging on every word." Never mind that he hadn't checked Harlan's background. So what if Harlan said he wanted to lease the $2.5 million center for $16,000 a month and purchase it in six months instead of buying it outright, as the seller preferred? Who cared that Harlan gave him a personal check to cover the $50,000 security deposit rather than a more reliable cashier's check? "He was an ex-Denver Bronco," adds Coleman. "He had the flash. Everything was good."

Harlan21 moved into the facility in mid-November, and when Harlan arrived at work each day, he parked his Avalanche in the center of the circular driveway. "You know why I do that? To put myself on a pedestal," Pineda remembers him saying. "It's all part of the show."

Now the company wouldn't have to troll for tournament locations; participants would come to them. According to the plan, the complex would soon host senior programs, youth-oriented events and tutoring, along with dodgeball, basketball and other tournaments, all of which would be publicized on a new website, http://harlan21.com. But for the time being, the newly christened Harlan21 Sports Complex was too dilapidated to hold events — and the company itself wasn't in good shape, either. More employees had received warnings from their banks; it seemed that every paycheck Harlan wrote had bounced. That was the last straw for several staff members. Hall quit, as did Pineda and Johannigman, all of whom notified the state labor department and the police.