Boomer bust

"I saved a bunch of money," he says with genuine pride in discovering the fine art of discount shopping, something he is having to get used to. "I am broke and depending on friends. It's a lot of fun," he says sarcastically.

Angelina, who attends therapy sessions with Brosseau each week, says she doesn't fear what might happen, even losing what little money they have left. "My family came to this country when I was seven with one suitcase between us," Angelina says. "I never had any money, so I know what it's like. I know we'll make it again. But I am worried about what this is doing to Bill psychologically."

They spend their time close to home, playing with their baby and his older daughters when they come for visitation, and socializing with friends. "A wild night for us is two movies," Brosseau says. A few weeks ago, actor Gary Busey and his wife flew in from Los Angeles to spend a quiet weekend with the Brosseaus, who had thrown them a pre-wedding party last fall, complete with a Buddy Holly look-alike.

Brosseau met the actor through McKay, who knew Busey's wife. Brosseau says he helped Busey--whose drug and alcohol addiction led him to a near-fatal motorcycle accident several years ago--to become clean and sober by sharing his own battle against addiction.

Despite all his therapy, Brosseau clearly still does not accept any blame for the Offshore mess. Instead, he sees himself as a victim. If he hadn't tried to help McKay, he wouldn't have gotten burned, he believes. He insists he did not set out to defraud his investors: "If I had, I would have never drilled any wells. My name would not have appeared anywhere. Believe me, no one worked harder than I did to make this thing work."

He has begun negotiations with the U.S. Attorney's office and does not yet know if he'll have to serve prison time and how much. "I don't know if I have a bad case of the flu or terminal cancer," he says. "This is a whole other game, a game I don't know how to play. I am scared to death."

What makes him the angriest, he says, "is that for the first time, I had my life where I wanted it to be. I was comfortable in my skin for the first time ever. I hadn't had a drink or done drugs in three years. I was with the woman I wanted to be with and had a new baby.

"I thought I finally had my demons behind me.