Feds Investigating Girlfriends of Defendants in Major Texas Steroid Bust

Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston are investigating the girlfriends of defendants indicted in the major Texas steroid bust codenamed Operation Pharmacia Juicy Fruit according to recently filed court documents. Prosecutors have made it clear to defendant Bruce Zaccaria and his attorney that they have the goods on a former girlfriend;  she was identified by first name practically as an unindicted co-conspirator. The relevance of this disclosure is unknown.

One thing that has emerged as a new known fact to the United States is the following: while the defendant was working at My Mechanic (his co-worker has been proposed as a surety by the defense and his steady work record has been offered as evidence he is stable and reliable) and during the interception of calls between the defendant and Brock Falkenhagen, the defendant ordered and even met with Falkenhagen to receive anabolic steroids… Furthermore, the defendant was directing Falkenhagen at times to drop off the anabolic steroids with his girlfriend “Carly”… Clearly, the defendant exercises a degree of control over his then girlfriend who was receiving the illegal drugs on his behalf. [Emphasis added]

The “new fact” emerged from the extensive surveillance  and interception of phone calls made by defendants during the course of the steroid investigation. There may have been thousands of intercepted phone calls. Prosecutors have not ruled out additional indictments arising out of the Texas steroid investigation.

The federal and state governments have been known to ruthlessly target spouses, relatives, etc. to pressure defendants in steroid cases to cooperate, testify and/or plead guilty. The pressure on significant others from steroid investigations has resulted in suicides, plea agreements, and additional charges against family members.

Jessica Holda, the spouse of one the defendants who pleaded guilty in the Planet Pharmacy case, was  intimidated and threatened with prosecution if she did not testify against her husband in the case; federal prosecutors even used the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services in an attempt to remove Tom and Jessica Holda’s 18 month daughter from their custody. The government felt they could scare Jessica Holda into testifying due to her fragile emotional state and severe anxiety disorder. The outcome was decidedly different. Jessica Holda took her own life on February 19, 2007.

Christopher Lance, owner of underground lab GenPharms, committed suicide after Nassau County prosecutors placed considerable pressure on him, his wife and mother. Lance faced state and potentially federal charges related to the operation of the massive steroid underground lab on Long Island that was busted during Operation Raw Deal. His wife and mother were charged with  multiple counts of criminal anabolic steroid possession.  The charges were later dropped.

Chris Navoy, while technically not a steroid case but was unfairly reported as such, claimed the government “blackmailed” him into a plea agreement. He accepted a 27 months prison sentence and $2 million dollars forfeiture reportedly contingent upon federal prosecutors dropping all seven felony counts against his wife.

Nicole Gestas, wife of BALCO defendant Greg Anderson, was threatened with criminal conspiracy charges if she did not agree to cooperate with the government. The U.S. Attorney’s office in San Francisco spent untold amounts of taxpayer money to intimidate Gestas with undercover agents and threatening to charge her mother with serious financial crimes. It was understood that the threats and intimidation against Anderson’s wife and mother-in-law would stop if he testified against Barry Bonds.

Mary Kay Hamilton, boyfriend of steroid defendant Jimmie Lynn Garrison, was charged with allegedly hiding anabolic steroids from federal agents and obstructing the Brandon Millay / Kong Labs steroid investigation.  Hamilton was indicted approximately seven months after her boyfriend and other co-defendants were indicted on various steroid-related crimes and over a year after the alleged crime took place. The timing of Hamilton’s indictment seems supect to some people who think that Hamilton’s failure to cooperate with federal agents may have influenced the filing of charges against her.

Many federal prosecutors seem primarily concerned with winning even at the expense of fairness and justice. Approximately 95% of criminal defendants plead guilty and about 90% are convicted at trial. These statistics combine for a 99% conviction rate by plea and jury nationwide. Considerable efforts go toward maintaining that high conviction rate.