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UFC fighter helped post suspect’s $500,000 bond

Could Keith Harriman's criminal case get any stranger?

The answer would seem to be yes after a hearing Friday revealed that Harriman was able to post $500,000 bond thanks to help from ultimate fighter Tito Ortiz.

Harriman is charged with 12 felony counts in a plot to have his son, Dominick Harriman, 27, killed in a sordid affair involving an insurance fraud scam and a love triangle with Keith Harriman's former wife.

Prosecutors have been wanting to know where Keith Harriman got the money to post the bond for his release from the Clark County Detention Center, because he had declared he was indigent and needed representation from the public defender's office.

District Judge David Barker ordered Keith Harriman to say where the money came from at the hearing Friday. Harriman said Ortiz put up the bulk of the collateral needed from a bondsman. Several people were surprised to hear Ortiz's name announced by Harriman.

Barker has ordered an investigation into Keith Harriman's finances to determine if he does qualify for an indigent defense.

The county's office of appointed council, run by Drew Christensen, is reviewing Keith Harriman's tax returns and bank statements for Barker.

The judge is expected to rule next week if Keith Harriman can afford to hire his own counsel.

The 49-year-old is currently on house arrest after posting the $500,000 bond.

Ortiz, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion, apparently has a relationship with Keith Harriman's brother, Wayne Harriman, a used car dealer in Las Vegas.

According to published reports, Wayne Harriman helped bridge a rift between Ortiz and UFC chairman Dana White that led to a six-fight contract.

Attempts to reach Ortiz on Monday were unsuccessful.

At a preliminary hearing in February, Dominick Harriman testified his father wanted him dead because he told insurance fraud investigators his father's $160,000 burglary loss claim was a scam to feed a crack cocaine addiction. Dominick Harriman also said his father was angry because he had slept with both his dad's ex-girlfriend and his ex-wife.

Dominick Harriman was shot at least nine times Aug. 27 at the used car dealership where he worked for his uncle, Wayne Harriman, at Nice Cars of Nevada, 3401 S. Decatur Blvd. The shooter has not been identified.

Keith Harriman's defense has included his son's sordid past and criminal history was motive for a hit, including that Dominick Harriman was an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.

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