IFBB professional bodybuilders Martin Kjellström and Irene Andersen were interrogated by police in Sweden during a recent series of steroid raids in Göteborg, Stockholm and Malmö during the week of April 20th, 2009. Police apparently rounded up twelve of the top Swedish bodybuilders, including at least two IFBB pro bodybuilders, during an exploratory investigation into steroid distribution in the region. But no charges have been filed in the case (”Kroppsbyggare fast i drograzzia,” May 6).
Swedish police have been known to arrest bodybuilders for suspicion of steroid use based on appearance alone. Police questioned the bodybuilders about their use of anabolic steroids. Most of the bodybuilders interrogated were found in possession of steroids in personal quantities for bodybuilding purposes. All indications suggest that Swedish police are primarily interested in busting major drug dealers of steroids and narcotics and not bodybuilders who use personal quantities of steroids and related performance enhancing drugs.
IFBB pro Martin Kjellström cooperated with police and permitted them to search his home where they discovered only small quantities of anabolic steroids. The steroids purportedly amounted to a 1-2 week personal supply; Kjellström’s physician in Norway corrobated the pharmaceutical regimen with Swedish police. Kjellström explained to police that most bodybuilders are hard-working professional athletes and NOT drug dealers. There was NOT a steroid bust but only involved questioning by the Swedish doping police. It is not expect to effect his contest preparations for the 2009 Mr. Olympia. Read more
Oklahoma law enforcement have sent a clear message that they are targeting competitive bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids by issuing 10 arrest warrant, mostly for bodybuilders. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Tulsa Police have been investigating the anabolic steroid and competitive bodybuilding scene for about two years. Law Enforcement purposely targeted middle- and upper-class competitive bodybuilders who used steroids solely for personal use (”Warrants Issued In Oklahoma Steroid Bust,” April 17).
Investigators say when they began the investigation two years ago; they vastly underestimated how bad the problem of anabolic steroid abuse was in Oklahoma. The bust doesn’t involve your average drug user. The accused are middle and upper class professionals. Some are accused of using steroids, others of selling or giving them away and agents say one man even ordered the raw ingredients from China to make his own.
National level NPC bodybuilders Trudy Ireland-Kline and Darrell Terrell and IFBB pro bodybuilder Sherry Smith (an Oklahoma City firefighter) are among the bodybuilders facing charges for personal use of steroids. Other bodybuilders who allegedly obtained steroids for personal use include Dr. Brad Stahlheber and Tom Burke were arrested.
Derrick Davis was busted for operating an underground lab that imported raw steroid powders from China and prepared oral and injectable anabolic steroids. Read more
IFBB pro bodybuilder Victor Martinez was unfairly subjected to a “witch hunt” by an inaccurate article appearing in the New York Daily News. Sports writer Christian Red inaccurately reported that Victor Martinez owned the Gurabo Supplement Store in the Dominican Republic when, in fact, Martinez does not have any ownership interest nor does he receive any monetary benefits from the supplement store. Daniel Ferreira, an attorney for Martinez, formally requested a correction in a letter to Christian Red of the Daily News to set the record straight.
Mr. Martinez’s posters are displayed in the store. The posters are for the supplements line Mr. Martinez endorses in the United States. By way of background, Mr. Martinez was invited as a guest poser to an event conducted by the Dominican Bodybuilders’ Federation. The Gurabo store, a sponsor of the event, requested that Mr. Martinez’s appear at the store and promote his supplements line. Your article somehow bestowed an ownership interest on to Mr. Martinez from the display of his posters of a supplements line from the United States in the Gurabo store. Your story lacks any credible evidence; I am very confident that you were not shown any documentation that supports your blanket assertion that Mr. Martinez is the owner of the Gurabo store.
The “irresponsible reporting” represents the most recent type of witch-hunt to target Victor Martinez. In 2007, Martinez was unfairly targeted in another type of steroid witch-hunt led by the grandstanding District Attorney David Soares of Albany County. Soares publicly identified Martinez as an “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the Signature Pharmacy steroid scandal; Victor was never charged with a crime after almost two years. The practice of naming unindicted co-conspirators is frowned upon by many in the legal community and unethical, if not unconstitutional. Attorney Daniel Ferreira decries the behavior of David Soares as part of a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct. Read more
An IFBB pro bodybuilder convicted of GHB/GBL distribution and sentenced to over 10 years in prison was released early due to his history of steroid use and his muscle dysmorphia. Ironically, Justin Rys’ steroid use and participation in bodybuilding worked to his benefit in the New Zealand criminal justice system!!
A New Zealand “3 News” video report describes how “megarexia” and Rys’ desire to become a pro bodybuilder caused him to become addicted to GHB/GBL (aka Fantasy) and start illegally importing GHB/GBL (”Mr. Big,” September 29).
Some people become addicted to alcohol, some addicted to gambling. Justin is addicted to weight gain, an addiction labelled megarexic. His addiction saw him thrown in jail for importing illegal drugs with a $2 million street value, all intended for himself, in his attempt to become a champion bodybuilder.
Eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman filed a civil lawsuit against Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 28, 2008. Coleman is “claiming misappropriation of image and likeness, invasion of privacy and unjust enrichment. ” Gold’s Gym is accused of using a photograph of Ronnie Coleman in an advertising campaign to recruit new gym members without obtaining permission or paying Coleman for the commercial use of his image.
It is good to see pro bodybuilders use the courts to protect against the exploitation of their image. Current Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler filed a similar lawsuit against NDS Nutritional products last year and successfully settled the suit with the company.
TMZ broke the news on their celebrity gossip website. Sadly, TMZ chose to use the regrettable headline, “Mr. Olympia Rages at Gold’s Gym.” The use of the term “rage” in the context of bodybuilding and muscle subtlely and inappropriately suggests “roid rage.” Fortunately, a reader was quick to point out the “ridiculous and misleading” nature of the headline in their comments.
The title of this article is ridiculous and misleading. The title alone perpetuates the stereotypes of steroids. No where in the story is there any mention of rage or anger for that matter. Many of the so-called side effects of steroids have never even been proven but the media continues to use these so-called side effects to keep a bad name associated with body building and other competitive sports… Why not go after Lindsey Lohan or one of the coked out drugged up hookers. They are just as much a role model to kids as Barry Bonds or Ronnie Coleman. But I guess we want the teenage girls of America hooked on hard core drugs and driving drunk and crashing cars. Mean while guys like Bonds have a relatively quiet career, free of crashed cars and DUI’s.
Forty-six year old Boston firefighter Albert Arroyo placed 8th place competing steroid-free at the 2008 WNBF Pro Natural American Championships on May 3, 2008. Normally, this would be an admirable achievement but Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser was not impressed. It seems Arroyo entered the competition only six weeks after seeking full disability retirement because he was “permanently and totally disabled.” Arroyo’s bodybuilding routine was caught on tape. His bodybuilding precontest preparations were made while collecting on his full salary of $68,133 per year tax-free Read more
Bodybuilding legend Robby Robinson wants federal government intervention into the sport of professional bodybuilding to combat the (mis)use of anabolic steroids in the sport (”Robby Robinson Still Waging War at 62,” July 14).
“There’s a lot of drugs in the sport,” he said. “To be 300 pounds and come down to 260 or 250. I think the government ought to do something.” Read more
Ironman Magazine’s Lonnie Teper, the popular bodybuilding writer, promoter and contest emcee, has denounced the use of anabolic steroids in bodybuilding competition on same day that Regis Philbin announced his support of steroids for bodybuilding. Teper’s comments were made in a recent interview with the Pasadena Weekly about the 2008 NPC Junior California Bodybuilding and Figure Championships in Pasadena, California on Saturday, June 21, 2008; Teper is the promoter of the Junior Cal show (”Show of Strength: Spartan-like bodybuilders do what it takes to attain the perfect body,” June 19). Read more
Former professional bodybuilder Craig Titus has pleaded guilty to second degree murder, first degree kidnapping and first degree arson. Fitness pro Kelly Ryan, the wife of Craig Titus, also pleaded guilty days before their trial was scheduled to start. The plea agreement spares the sport of bodybuilding from a sensationalistic trial where anabolic steroids are likely to be demonized; we anticipated a “dumbbell defense” with the requested appointment of clinical psychologist David Schmidt of UNLV.
Local news stations have breaking news about the case and sentencing.
Once stars in the bodybuilding world, they are accused of using a stun gun, drugging and suffocating 28-year-old Melissa James in December of 2005. James burned body was found in a burned out Jaguar belonging to Ryan.
Details of Kelly Ryan’s plea agreement have not been released, but it appears that Craig Titus has been spared the death penalty.
Titus now faces a possible sentence of 10 to 25 years on the murder charge, 5 to 15 on kidnapping charge, and 2 to 15 years on the arson charge.
The morning after attending the Hollywood premiere party for Bigger Stronger Faster, we were lucky to find Lou Ferrigno outside our hotel on Venice Beach on the set of a new Hollywood movie “I Love You, Man” starring Jason Segal, Paul Rudd and Jaime Pressly slated to arrive in theatres in 2009. His role is a small role (and he’s not credited in Internet Movie Database yet) but they still filmed his scene all day today. Of course, Lou Ferrigno is no stranger to Hollywood having starred in the popular television series “The Incredible Hulk.” We had some live video coverage of the movie filming today that were originally aired real-time at Qik. My full report along with Lou Ferrigno photographs will appear on Muscletime.
NPC Bodybuilder Dan Puckett was found dead in his apartment on November 8, 2007 at the age of 22. There was immediate speculation that Puckett died from the use of anabolic steroids based on the fact that he was a bodybuilder and furthered by the rampant steroid hysteria in the media. This week, autopsy results reveal that Puckett’s unfortunate death was due to “natural causes” dispelling claims that he died from steroid use.
Dan Puckett was a collegiate bodybuilding champion, winning the 2006 NPC Teen & Collegiate National Championships, and a senior marketing major at the University of Alabama.
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and the Tulsa Police Department are trying to find out if an Oklahoma steroid trafficking network sold anabolic steroids and/or performance enhancing drugs to high school athletes (”Steroid inquiry widens to teen athletes,” April 24).
Tulsa and state undercover officers are investigating whether suspected steroid dealers are selling performance enhancement drugs to high school students.
Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control’s office in Oklahoma City, said agents have received a significant number of calls in recent months from high school coaches concerned about rapid gains in weight and strength among their players.
Chris Goodman (owner of Hi-Octane Fitness and co-owner of Supplement Shak), Keith Koppenhaver (an amateur NPC bodybuilder and personal trainer), IFBB pro bodybuilder Guy Ducasse and Coweta police officer Zachary Livingston were recently implicated in a major Oklahoma steroid distribution network. Sources have told MESO-Rx that the Tulsa Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit has interviewed over 75 people in the Oklahoma steroid investigation.
Prosecutors have been particularly motivated to search beyond simple evidence of steroid distribution to find links between steroid dealers and high school athletes or professional athletes whenever possible. If they are lucky, they think they can finally find the steroid dealer who sold anabolic steroids and growth hormone to Roger Clemens.
The defense team of NPC bodybuilder Thomas Vigliatura used the “steroids made me crazy” defense in Vigliatura’s GHB/GBL distribution trial. (”Vigliatura says he’s changed,” March 30)
At the same time. Mr. Vigliatura’s life “was a merry-go-round of alcohol abuse, substance abuse and, most horrifically, the conduct detailed in the indictment,” Mr. Sinnis said. Mr. Vigliatura suffered from physical and psychiatric symptoms as a result of androgenic-anabolic steroids he began using in 1990 in connection with body building, Mr. Sinnis said.
And the steroid money quote…
The steroids left him with permanent severe cognitive deficits, according to excerpts of a neuropsychology report commissioned by the defense. But it noted that he has greatly recovered, perhaps fully, from the psychological and mood effects of the steroids and it predicted an ability “to return to a fulfilling and gainful life in society.”
The steroid insanity defense. Damn those steroids. Damn those steroids!!
Former NPC Bodybuilder Tom Vigliatura has been falsely accused of selling steroids by reporter Lee Hammel of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette newspaper in Massachusetts. However, I am certain that this false accusation is the least of Thomas Vigliatura’s concerns; Vigliatura has been in prison since August 2005. He was sentenced this week to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit his home and his defunct supplement store, T. Vig’s Sports Supplements Unlimited for selling Ecstasy, Cocaine and GHB – but NOT steroids (”Bodybuilder gets 51 months, forfeits home and business,” March 24).
Thomas J. Vigliatura, 40, of 118 Santoro Road, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy from 2002 to 2004 to distribute illegal steroids known as GHB and GBL and to possess cocaine and Ecstasy as well as distribution of GBL and GHB.
Reporter Lee Hammel wants to throw in steroid distribution as one of the charges when he erroneously identifies GHB and GBL as steroids. It upsets me that so many reporters remain blissfully ignorant about anabolic steroids and fail to perform even basic fact checking when it comes to basic questions like “what are anabolic steroids?” Why should reporters stick to the facts? Maybe Hammel just assumed that he was selling anabolic steroids since, after all, Vigliatura was a competitive bodybuilder.
Anabolic steroids are already being demonized by the current tidal wave of steroid hysteria permeating the United States. There is no need to false associate steroids to a criminal case involving cocaine and ecstasy, police corruption and threats against a federal prosecutor that has nothing to do with steroids. But anything to further demonize steroids must be the new journalistic standard?
Thanks to reporter Lee Hammel, the Associated Press has picked up the story and syndicated it nationally using Hammel’s inaccurate reporting regarding steroids (”Bodybuilder sentenced on drug charges,” March 25).
Thomas Vigliatura pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute illegal steroids and possession of cocaine and Ecstasy…
Information from: Telegram & Gazette, http://www.telegram.com
The distribution of drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, and GHB has been a different enterprise from the distribution of anabolic steroids. (Although this distinction is starting to disappear as the federal steroid witch hunt threatens to push the entire steroid market completely underground.) The differences in cocaine/ecstasy/GHB distribution and anabolic steroid distribution is highlighted by the former group’s reluctance to testify or “snitch” on co-conspirators and the latter group’s widespread and eager willingness to “rat out” co-conspirators in exchange for leniency (”Bodybuilder’s sentence is bulked up by judge: six months,” July 27, 2007).
[Thomas J. Vigliatura] reiterated his contention that he refused to testify out of fear of reprisal to himself and his family…
“In no way was I trying to attempt to impede justice in any way,” Mr. Vigliatura told the judge before sentencing. “Most of you don’t know what it’s like where I live.”
Mr. Vigliatura’s real concern is his “reputation as a stand-up guy…”
Mr. Vigliatura did not want to be known as “a cooperator, snitch, rat, informant.”
Steroid dealers and distributors have not historically had the same concerns. But the federal war on steroids is close to succeeding at making the underground anabolic steroid market more dangerous than ever before for steroid users and steroid dealers alike.
Pro Bodybuilding Weekly interviewed IFBB Pro bodybuilder Hidetada Yamagishi today for the first time since his release from jail. Hide Yamagishi was arrested and charged with steroid possession and distribution in December 2007; he was released after 65 days in jail after his attorney had all felony charges dismissed. His travel visa was revoked.
Yamagishi told Dan Solomon and Bob Cicherillo of Pro Bodybuilding Weekly that he is currently working to obtain a visa so he can compete at the 2008 IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships in Tampa, Florida on August 9, 2008 and possibly the 2008 Europa Pro show.
Hide is not angry or bitter and the events that have occurred over the past few months. He continues to be grateful for every opportunity bodybuilding has provided him. He told listeners his relationship with Milos Sarcev is good and he hopes to work with him in the “future forever.” He thanked his fans for their support while he was in jail with special thanks to Silvio Samuel and Mitsuru Okabe.
He continues to take full responsibility for everything that has happened to him and implores fans to learn from his mistakes repeating sentiments recorded a video message last month for his fans upon his initial return to Japan.
