Bruce Zaccaria has been detained without bail as an unacceptable “danger to the community” based solely on an allegation of selling 250 vials of anabolic steroids to bodybuilders who were members of a Houston-area 24 Hour Fitness almost two years ago. By contrast, a judge in an unrelated Dallas-area case apparently feels that a suicidal man firing a gun at police does not represent a threat to society.
Bruce Zaccaria’s pre-trial detention highlights the significant disparities in sentencing for defendants awaiting trial in Texas in court cases where anabolic steroids are involved.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley seems to have concluded that the safety of the community is at considerable risk from steroid use by bodybuilders. Judge Botley determined there were absolutely no conditions that could possibly protect the community from the dangerous Zaccaria if he were released on bail. Zaccaria was charged with “conspiracy to manufacture/possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids” punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Meanwhile, a Dallas-area man threatening suicide under financial duress, fired a gun at Frisco Police officers, was arrested and released on $20,000 bail after a four-hour standoff with police special operations unit on June 28-29, 2009. Paul Bailey was charged with “aggravated assault with a deadly weapon” which is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years incarceration. Bailey was in possession of five bottles of anabolic steroids at his home, including nandrolone decanoate, testosterone cypionate and methandrostenolone. The courts did not feel that Bailey was a “danger to the community” even though his neighbors in the affluent Frisco subdivision of Lakes of Preston Vineyards feared for their safety after he was released Read more
Bruce Zaccaria continues to be improperly detained without bail in the Joe Corley Detention Facility after his arrest in the Texas steroid bust codenamed Operation Pharmacia Juicy Fruit according to his lawyer Trent Gaither. Zaccaria was charged with one count of “conspiracy to manufacture/possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids” with a maximum penalty of up to 5 years in prison.
The United States Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley refused to release Zaccaria on bail due to “clear and convincing evidence exists” that he is a “danger to the community”. Magistrate Botley further stated that “no conditions or combination of conditions… would secure the safety of the community” if Zaccaria is released.
The sole stated reason for Bruce Zaccaria’s detention was based on the allegation that he bought and distributed approximately 250 vials of anabolic steroids to bodybuilders who were members at 24 Hour Fitness. Who knew that steroid-using bodybuilders made 24 Hour Fitness, or any commercial gym for that matter, so dangerous for the community at large?
Attorney R. Trent Gaither suggests that the government may have arbitrarily and capriciously, in violation of the Bail Reform Act, detained Zaccaria while inexplicably releasing most of his co-defendants indicted on similar, multiple or much more serious charges, including those who sold more dangerous drugs such as MDMA and hydrocodone .
As of this writing, Zaccaria is one of only five who have not been released on bond of some sort. For example, Charles Brock Falkenhagen is charged in 44 counts, including at least four different kinds of drugs, with exposure of well over ten years. Yet, he has been released on a $75,000 unsecured bond. Several of those charged with counts subject to ten or twenty years are likewise released on unsecured bonds. There was no evidence presented that would distinguish Zaccaria as being inherently more dangerous than the co-defendants, especially those charged with more serious crimes, subject to greater prison exposure, or who were more actively involved.
Disparity is an issue at sentencing, and should be a factor to consider in pre-trial detention. Upon what theory is lodged and explained the notion that the alleged kingpin of the organization, who arguably is subject to about 500 years in prison, less dangerous than one whose maximum exposure is 5 years? This is, of course, not limited to just Falkenhagen. One can go down the list and easily come to the Alice in Wonderland-ish conclusion that the defendant who has among the least exposure is somehow considered by the government to be the most dangerous, and the individual who has, under the government theory, demonstrated his capacity for all kinds of evil doings, yet is apparently not all that dangerous..
Bruce Zaccaria was one of FOUR defendants ONLY charged with ONE count of “conspiracy to manufacture/possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids” in the 46 count Falkenhagen indictment. The other three co-defendants facing identical steroid-related charges are NPC Texas Chairman Lee Thompson, NPC bodybuilder Bryan Barth, and NPC bodybuilder Brandon George. Thompson was quickly released on $50,000 unsecured bond and Barth and George were each promptly released on $75,000 unsecured bond. They remain free while awaiting trial.
Operation Farmacia de Juicy Phruit is the code name for the major steroid bust in Houston led by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Department involving the arrest of 73 defendants. The “largest narcotics operation in the history of Fort Bend County” primarily involved the arrest of personal trainers, their clients, bodybuilders, a professional bodybuilder and a gym owner in the Houston area. Many of the arrests only involved steroid possession. The steroid network was characterized by Sheriff Milton Wright as a “loose knit” network of individuals involved in fitness/bodybuilding who distributed steroids through “word of mouth”. The total amount of steroids sold over a period of about six years was estimated to have been $643,924 (”Authorities round up drug suspects,” May 27).
“It’s one of these things where they’ve got their friends on speed-dial. They need a certain product, they give them a call and so forth,” Wright said. “They just know each other. A lot of times they know each other by nicknames. They are well-connected to each other in that respect.”
Fort Bend County Sheriff Wright told the Houston Chronicle that the Texas steroid investigation revolved around personal trainers and gyms (”Fort Bend holds suspects in alleged steroid ring,” May 28).
“The majority of this thing is built around body trainers at fitness centers,” said Wright. “Their livelihood is getting customers they can develop physically — legally or illegally. It doesn’t matter in their eyes, as long as they get the job done.”
The steroid operation originated with Brock Falkenhagen, owner of Fitness Associates and Smoothie Factory in Sugar Land, when his activities came to the attention of law enforcement in late 2006 for importing and distributing Jintropin brand human growth hormone (HGH) purchased from Lei Jin of GeneScience Pharmaceuticals. Falkenhagen also allegedly manufactured and distributed anabolic steroids from some time in 2001 through September 7, 2007. Falkenhagen was well-connected in the Sugar Land / Stafford / Missouri City / Houston area fitness community and was friendly with several personal trainers and bodybuilding promoters. Some of Falkenhagen’s friends are rumored to have been arrested today. Charles Brock Falkenhagen was listed as a co-defendant on the sealed indictments of all 22 defendants indicted by the federal grand jury in April 2009; the names of Falkenhagen’s co-defendants were redacted in unsealed court documents.
Falkenbaden was not characterized as the mastermind behind the steroid operation. But authorities would not elaborate on how the Falkenbaden investigation led to the arrest and indictment of personal trainers and bodybuilders in the Houston area. Falkenbaden was arrested approximately a week before today’s arrests and released on a $75,000 unsecured bond Read more
