Richard and Sandra Thomas, former competitive bodybuilders who competed in 2001 NPC Mid-Florida Muscle Classic mixed pairs competition, were arrested after undercover narcotics detectives recovered several thousand dosages of oral anabolic steroid, injectable steroids, and steroid paraphernalia some of which may have been destined for professional athletes. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) obtained an anticipatory search warrant in preparation for the controlled delivery after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Philadelphia notified them that a large shipment of anabolic steroids was destined for the Lakeland, Florida home of Richard and Sandra Thomas. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd reported the steroid seizure as the largest in the history of the PCSO. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office apparently also seized copies of the steroid reference books “Anabolics 2007” and “Anabolics 9th Edition” which the photographer felt compelled to use creatively in official photographs of the steroid seizure Read more
Former NFL running back Femi Ayanbadejo settled his lawsuit against ALR Industries in a confidential agreement. ALR Industries (ALRI) has NOT admitted wrongdoing. ALRI is proceeding with its defamation lawsuit seeking punitive damages against Ayanbadejo for his irresponsible and false statements alleging that ALRI spiked its supplements. Ayanbadejo tested positive for an ingredient clearly listed on the label of ALRI Max LMG during a doping test conducted by the National Football League (NFL) (”Ex-Aztec, company settle dispute over supplement’s label,” May 20).
“Sometimes athletes have a valid claim against these companies, and sometimes they don’t,” said Charles Weller, attorney for ALR Industries. “This was a perfect example of a situation where we don’t have a valid claim. Ayanbadejo tested positive for exactly what was on the label of Max LMG. In trying to save his career, he chose to point fingers at the supplement company. He took a dietary supplement without doing his due diligence.”
Ayanbadejo publicly told reporters that ALR Industries knowingly added a banned substance and intentionally failed to disclose it on the label of Max LMG. Jim Miller, Ayanbadejo’s attorney, blamed Ayanbadejo’s failed steroid test on either a cross-contaminated or intentionally spiked supplement. However, Ayanbadejo and his lawyer never submitted any evidence to support allegations that Max LMG was cross-contaminated or spiked.
An evaluation of the Max LMG label easily proves the LISTED ingredient(s) account for the failed test. Read more
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson admitted to using anabolic steroids in an interview with MTV Movies Editor Josh Horowitz. The former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar admitted using anabolic steroids along with his friends around the time he played collegiate football as a defensive tackle for the 1991 NCAA Division I-A national champion Miami Hurricanes. The admission of steroid use has almost become a rite of passage for athletes and entertainers with very muscular physiques during the contemporary era of steroid hysteria. The personable Johnson had fun with the admission in an entertaining discussion of steroid use with MTV News; the revelation of steroid use happened while promoting his latest Disney movie “Race to Witch Mountain” in the back of a New York City yellow cab (”Dwayne Johnson Admits To Steroid Use Years Ago,” March 12). Read more
A Washington state psychiatrist concluded that a steroid-induced psychosis was responsible for the “roid rage” that caused a 250-lb former arena football player to violently force his way through airport security at the Tri-Cities Airport and run onto the tarmac to chase a departing Horizon Air flight 2103 to Seattle. Michael Rayfield Hodges proclaimed to be God during the airport security breach when he assaulted a female Transportation Security Administration and punched Port of Pasco Officer Jim Rohman. The former Arena Football League player for the Tri-Cities Fever was charged with first degree assault and two counts of third-degree assault (”Psychiatrist says ex-Fever player now competent to stand trial,” January 17).
His first trial is set Feb. 25 for a jail scuffle in November when Hodges is accused of biting off the fingertip of a corrections officer and repeatedly punching another officer in the face.
The second trial is March 11 for allegedly forcing his way into the Tri-Cities Airport’s secured boarding area four days earlier and hitting a Port of Pasco officer in the process.
State psychiatrist Dr. William H. Grant wrote in a report that Michael Hodges was an experienced anabolic steroid user who had used several cycles while playing in the Arena Football League and as a standout player at Idaho State University. Anabolic steroids never caused psychosis during his previous history of cycling steroids. But apparently, Hodges used a new, unfamiliar steroid for the first time and “did not anticipate its adverse effects.”
The so-called steroid-induced psychosis was so severe that it required treatment with anti-psychotic medications while institutionalized for six weeks at the Eastern State Hospital, a state psychiatric hospital in Medical Lake, Washington. Read more
Individuals who purchased steroids earlier this year at bodybuilding gyms in Opelousas, Eunice and Krotz Springs (Louisiana) may currently be “monitored” by the St. Landry Sheriff Department. This is a consequence of a major steroid bust in Louisiana last summer that uncovered a staggering (!) $15,000 in anabolic steroids and resulted in six arrests thus far.
The steroid bust by the St. Landry Sheriff Department was the result of a seven-month investigation that involved local distributors of Generic Labs Pharmaceuticals. Some of the customers identified as buying steroids were local high school football players.
The Daily Advertiser reported today that St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz and his detectives are still “monitoring” at least 100 customers/clients who purchased anabolic steroids in an effort to arrest more steroid distributors Read more
A letter by Steve Courson discovered posthumously reveals his disappointment with NFL players’ lack of honesty regarding their use of anabolic steroids. He believed the successs and popularity of the NFL and pro football arose from the myth of steroid-free football players (”Courson’s letter assailed ‘myth’ of drug-free players,” July 3).
“I believe the NFL is a prisoner to their own public relations myth… The level of deception and exploitation that the NFL requires to do business still amazes me.” Read more
David Jacobs, the convicted steroid dealer that murdered his ex-girlfriend and then committed suicide, continues to take people down posthumously. The lawyer for NFL football player Ryan Fowler, a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, suspects his client faces suspension based on a so-called non-analytical positive arising from information provide by David Jacobs to the NFL. Jacobs previously publicly identified former Dallas Cowboys football player Matt Lehr as purchaser of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone.
I spoke with Bob Johnson of Posedown Magazine Saturday night at the 2008 NPC Lone Star Classic in Plano, Texas; he told me Jacobs behavior and actions were not a big surprise. Last night, Johnson told Jason Trahan of the Dallas Morning News that he is not surprised that Jacobs is hurting people in death as he did in life (”Plano steroids trafficker told newspaper he supplied Cowboys player,” June 10).
“I don’t believe anything Jacobs said. He died the way he lived his life – always taking somebody down with him.”
There is the likely possibility that David Jacobs could take down several more people posthumously. Before he died, he identified many names of individuals who allegedly purchased anabolic steroids from him; he shared the information with prosecutors, journalists, bloggers, and others who asked him about his involvement in steroid distribution. Earlier this year, Jacobs had told the Dallas Morning News that he sold anabolic steroids to football player Ryan Fowler.
Mr. Jacobs spoke to The News about his dealings with Mr. Fowler with the understanding that some details not be immediately published. After his death and after Mr. Fowler’s attorney linked the league’s action to Mr. Jacobs, The News decided to make some of the information public.
Mr. Jacobs said that with his help, Mr. Fowler, who played in Dallas from 2004 to 2006, went from making $400,000 as a Cowboy to signing a four-year, $11.5 million contract with the Titans, where he was a starting linebacker last season.
“After he got his big contract, he came back, knocked on my door and hugged me,” Mr. Jacobs said. “He said, thanks, I just got $12 million.”
Mr. Jacobs also divulged this information to federal prosecutors over the last year.
In addition, he turned over text messages, e-mails and other evidence of his dealings with Mr. Fowler and other players to the NFL in recent weeks in an attempt to “clean up” the game.
Jacobs showed no reluctance dropping names of “steroid customers” when I interviewed him earlier this year. There is no reason to suspect that he did not share the same information with prosecutors.
They asked me about a few people. They asked me about ********* and they ask me about *********. And for obvious reasons, I was in magazines and videos with them and everything like that so there was a very clear link and association. And they ask me straight up, “Has ********* ever been involved in distributing steroids?” And I said absolutely not, not in any way. As a matter of fact, he has been very adamant and not ever being involved in any of it. He has a good contract, he has an export business, and he has his own gym. The guy wouldn’t even need to think about doing anything like that. He is making great money on his own. Then they just said ‘ok.’ And that was the first and last time they ever asked about him.
[...]
If I were to tell them every single person that I sold steroids to, then half the IFBB would go away. That would just be ridiculous. That’s why people who know me and know who are my friends are and who I have been involved with, that’s why they still stand by me and say thanks for being strong and being cool because… As you can see ********** hasn’t been arrested. As you can see, ********* and *********, and all these other guys they haven’t been arrested. Nothing has happened to them.
[...]
I think ********* and ********* and ********* and ********* and all these guys who have not been brought in or anything like that attests to the fact that they are not targeting bodybuilders. And not only that, it attests to the fact that I didn’t do anything or say anything to get them in trouble.
The Florida Legislature refused to continue funding a pilot program for steroid testing of high school athletes. State budget problems did not allow legislators to justify spending $175 to $200 per student on random testing for anabolic steroids. Out of 700 tests costing approximately $100,000, one high school student tested positive for anabolic steroid use (”Prep drug testing runs out of juice,” May 19).
The Florida High School Athletic Association will present the results to the legislature in October, Llorente said, but the FHSAA already has a good idea of what they are.
FHSAA spokeswoman Cristina Alvarez confirmed Monday that more than 700 student-athletes have been randomly tested this school year, and only one test came back positive. The positive test was from a football player, Alvarez said, and no athletes from the winter or spring seasons have tested positive.
Rep. Marcelo Llorente, the bill sponsor, feels that $100,000 is a small price to pay to catch a single steroid user.
“It shows that the program deterred young high school athletes from using steroids,” Llorente said. “If we deter one young person in the state from doing steroids and intervene in a positive fashion, I think it becomes a worthwhile endeavor.”
Fortunately, at least one athletic director is a little more reasonable when addressing the issue of steroid testing in high school.
Not everyone agrees. Boca Raton Athletic Director Bill Massey pointed out that it “cost us $100,000 to find that one student.”
“It was a nice idea, probably a more politically correct thing to do,” Massey said of the testing. “To test 1 percent of the state is not a significant number that the student-athletes modified their behavior, and I don’t think it’s as widespread as we would like to say among athletes.”
Three of the seven co-defendants indicted for their role in David Jacobs’ Texas-based steroid distribution network were sentenced today including David Jacobs. All seven co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty. David Jacobs, Amber Jarrell and Matt Williams all received probation along with a monetary fine based on their respective role in the steroid operation (”Plano steroids supplier wants to help clean up NFL,” May 2)
Sentenced Thursday: Mr. Jacobs, 35, ringleader, three years’ probation and a $25,000 fine. Amber Jarrell, 37, of Plano, his former girlfriend, three years’ probation and a $1,000 fine. Matt Williams, 39, of Dallas, who helped bottle and store the steroids, three years’ probation and a $10,000 fine.
Awaiting sentences: Andrew Schenck of Dallas; Juan Carlos Ballivian of Houston; Brandon Mark Smith of the Dallas area; and Jamie Mongeau of Wichita, Kan.
David Jacobs told the Dallas Morning News that now he plans on helping the NFL tackle their unacknowledged steroid problem.
The ringleader of one of the largest steroids trafficking networks in the nation said Thursday after he was sentenced to probation that he plans to meet with the NFL to share his expertise to help “clean up” football.
“I want to help them understand the loopholes, how I was able to help people beat the tests, and how prevalent steroid use is,” Plano bodybuilder David Jacobs said after his sentencing hearing.
He told the New York Times that he has inside knowledge of the rampant steroid use in the NFL and exploitation of loopholes used by football players (”Steroid Maker Says He Taught About N.F.L. Loopholes,” May 2).
Jacobs, a former body builder, said he advised about 10 N.F.L. players on how to exploit loopholes in the league’s drug-testing program. One way, he said, was to have team doctors write them prescriptions for drugs that would mask steroid use…
Jacobs said he advised players, including Lehr, to ask their team doctors to write them prescriptions for finasteride, a drug used to treat balding in young men. Jacobs said a Falcons team doctor wrote Lehr a prescription for the substance.
Now that the leader of one of the largest steroid distribution rings in the country was sentenced to probation along with two other co-conspirators, it seems to confirm that steroid dealers were not the targets of the federal steroid investigation in Texas. It appears that the real targets of the investigation are professional athletes, namely NFL football players with David Jacobs providing the steroids and football link.
Will David Jacobs represent the NFL’s BALCO?
The steroid source at the center of a major federal steroid investigation in Texas has, for the first time, publicly named NFL football player Matt Lehr (currently with the New Orleans Saints) as a customer. Matt Lehr has been a target of the investigation for some time. David Jacobs claims to have sold significant quantities of performance enhancing drugs to Matt Lehr, including anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (”Plano steroids dealer says he sold to former Dallas Cowboys player,” April 27).
Mr. Jacobs, 35, said, “I sold steroids and a significant amount of growth hormone to Matt Lehr.” He said Mr. Lehr’s purchases totaled tens of thousands of dollars from spring 2006 to spring 2007, significantly larger quantities than could be for personal use.
At one point, Mr. Jacobs said, Mr. Lehr agreed to have boxes of raw steroid powder from China shipped to Mr. Lehr’s house in Georgia. Mr. Jacobs said he asked his former friend to do this because too many packages headed to his Plano house were being seized by U.S. Customs.
David Jacobs has previously denied providing federal prosecutors with the names of customers who bought steroids from him stressing that evidence and associations with Lehr were established independent of his cooperation. He has repeatedly been advised by his attorney to avoid publicly naming names. Why did Jacobs name Matt Lehr this weekend?
Mr. Jacobs said he was speaking out now because he was angry about Mr. Coggins’ statements last week to The News.
“We have been told by the prosecutors that they do not intend to bring charges against Matt Lehr in connection with their ongoing steroid investigation,” Mr. Coggins said Wednesday.
“It’s an issue of right and wrong,” Mr. Jacobs said. “I’m taking responsibility for my actions. And I’m not blaming people for my mistakes. I’m not going to lay down while other people attack my character and my integrity and accuse me of extortion and lies and making up information. It’s time for Matt to be a man.”
Paul Coggins, Matt Lehr’s attorney, claims that David Jacobs is providing false information in exchange for prosecutorial leniency in sentencing; Coggins also told the New York Times that Jacobs tried to extort money from Matt Lehr.
“He threatened Matt and said you have to pay my attorney’s fees or I am going to end your career,” Coggins said in a telephone interview on Saturday. He said Lehr met Jacobs when they were bodybuilders.
“Jacobs saw Matt as a guy with a lot of money and Matt declined to pay his fees,” Coggins added.
Coggins, the former United States attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said he had represented Lehr for three months. “We are confident that the more the feds look at Jacobs, the less credible of a source of information he becomes,” Coggins said.
It will be interesting to see how Matt Lehr’s attorney responds to David Jacobs’ latest allegations along with evidence of significant financial links between Lehr and Jacobs.
Jason Trahan and Gary Jacobson of the Dallas Morning News continue their excellent coverage of the federal steroid investigation in North Texas with a review of the rise and fall of one of the largest steroid distribution ring in the country.
The review article profiles steroid dealer David Jacobs and his introduction to anabolic steroids, his integration into the bodybuilding scene, his networking with pro football players, his decision to import and manufacture anabolic steroids, his steroid bust, the dismantling of the Texas steroid network, and his ostracism from the bodybuilding community (”Plano resident’s steroid distribution ring was one of the largest in U.S.,” April 24).
I recommend reading the complete article for a better understanding of the chronology and scope of the Texas steroid investigation. Below are a few excerpts.
David Jacobs’ decision to manufacture and distribute anabolic steroids:
At Lewisville Lake’s Party Cove one weekend, he met his first pro bodybuilder, Art Atwood. The two became friends, and Mr. Atwood helped train the up-and-coming rookie.
Both men were taking steroids, but were unhappy with shoddy Mexican imports.
Mr. Jacobs went online and found a solution: recipes for steroids using raw Chinese powder. Mr. Jacobs soon parlayed his knowledge of Asia, gleaned during his Nokia business trips, into contacts with English-speaking middlemen to the Chinese steroid powder factories.
Sloppy packaging that led to steroid bust:
On March 19, 2007, the United Parcel Service intercepted a soggy package sent from Mr. Jacobs’ Plano home, bound for Wichita, Kan. When officials opened the box, they found a broken glass vial of what turned out to be steroids.
Authorities arrested the man in Kansas who had ordered steroids from Mr. Jacobs, court documents say. Jamie Mongeau, an amateur bodybuilder, told investigators that Mr. Jacobs was his supplier.
Ostracism from bodybuilding community:
Brian Dobson, owner of Arlington’s MetroFlex gym, which produced eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman and where Mr. Jacobs used to train with other bodybuilding friends, said that since his bust, Mr. Jacobs has been ostracized by the bodybuilding community he once serviced.
“A lot of people hate him,” Mr. Dobson said. “To a lot of the other guys who were his buddies, once he got caught, he became the black plague.”
The full text of the article is available on the Dallas Morning News website.
Paul Coggins, the attorney for NFL football player Matt Lehr, announced that federal prosecutors would not indict his client on steroid distribution charges (”Attorney says ex-Cowboy Lehr won’t be indicted; investigators won’t confirm statement,” April 24).
“We have been told by the prosecutors that they do not intend to bring charges against Matt Lehr in connection with their ongoing steroid investigation,” said Paul Coggins in Dallas. “After reviewing the evidence gathered to date, the government reached the right conclusion.”
John Ratcliffe, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, which is conducting the investigation, would not confirm Mr. Coggins’ statement.
“We are actively investigating the distribution of illegal steroids and human growth hormone,” he said. “As a matter of policy, we neither identify nor comment upon persons of interest in ongoing investigations.”
A source close to the steroid investigation told MESO-Rx that the steroids and football investigation is far from over. Whether the ongoing investigation involves Matt Lehr remains to be seen.
A federal investigation in North Texas uncovered one of the largest anabolic steroid distribution networks in the country; evidence seized during the course of the investigation allegedly implicated Matt Lehr. According to the Dallas Morning News and New York Times, a grand jury was convened with subpoenas for at least a couple of NFL players (former and active) to testify against Lehr for alleged steroid distribution in the NFL.
Dr. Jay Hoffman is a Professor of Health and Exercise Science at the College of New Jersey and a member of the board of directors for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Dr. Hoffman recently shared his views of steroid use in professional sports with Express (a free daily published by the Washington Post).
Dr. Hoffman explains why he has no regrets about is own use of anabolic steroids during the 1980s in collegiate and professional football (”Sports Talk: Off the Field with Dr. Jay Hoffman,” April 15).
Because, one, it wasn’t illegal. I did it with a physician. I had constant blood and liver function tests. I did it with someone who cared about me as a patient, making sure it was done the right way. I never did anything black market. I did it in specific time frames, that would maximize my ability as an athlete used it for a specific purpose: to be a better football player. And people have to understand there is a difference between a strength power athlete that uses it to get ready for a season versus a body builder that uses it on a consistent basis. Most individuals who use it, use it in a cyclic fashion and stacking several different drugs for certain period of time, and then come off it. There are side effects that are associated with that and the side effects are greater with the amount of anabolic steroid being used. But it’s transient. And unless there’s an underlying disease — and that’s why it’s important to go with a physician — unless there’s an underlying disease, the risks associated with it are not as great as people make it out to be. But for those individuals who never come off a cycle, the risks are very real. Many of the athletes who have died, are generally those body builders or wrestlers who never come off it.
I think Dr. Hoffman touches on some very interesting points.
(1) The patterns of steroid use by most professional athletes and competitive bodybuilders are substantially different. The implication is that it is unfair to extrapolate the side effects from extreme users of anabolic steroids to all athletes (and individuals) who use anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes.
(2) The side effects of anabolic steroids are transient in nature for the most part.
(3) The side effects of anabolic steroids have been overstated if there is no underlying disease in the individual using steroids for non-medical purposes.
(3) Steroid use can be done the “right way” with proper medical monitoring by a physician with necessary lab work.
A federal steroid investigation in Texas that shut down a major steroid source in the Texas is now targeting an NFL football player. Matt Lehr, currently with the New Orleans Saints but previously with the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons, was one of the subjects of a grand jury investigation convening in Texas according to the New York Times. At least one active NFL player from the Atlanta Falcons was subpoenaed to testify against Lehr on possible steroid distribution charges (”Former Dallas Cowboy named in steroid investigation,” April 8 ).
Amateur bodybuilder David Jacobs was the steroid source that was busted in May 2007. Jacobs had extensive ties to both amateur and professional bodybuilders; he was widely recognized in the sport as IFBB Pro Branch Warren’s training partner. Fortunately for the sport of bodybuilding, bodybuilders were NOT the target of the federal investigation. It now appears that the end target(s) of the U.S. attorney’s office are professional football player(s).
David Jacobs had also previously trained with NFL player Matt Lehr in Texas. Lehr’s former girlfriend, female bodybuilder Andrea Trent, confirmed that David Jacobs and Matt Lehr were close.
“David and Matt were close and pretty tight,” said Ms. Trent, adding that they worked out together “all the time.”
Branch Warren has distanced himself from David Jacobs but surprisingly has come to the defense of football player Matt Lehr in the Dallas Morning News.
Local pro bodybuilder Branch Warren, who used to train with Mr. Jacobs, said he is friends with Mr. Lehr and does not believe the NFL player has ever done anything illegal.
“My understanding is, Mr. Lehr was suspended and he moved on with his life,” said Mr. Warren, who lives in Tarrant County. “Matt made a mistake, and he admitted to it. He’s a good guy.
“He’s an NFL player. Why would he sell drugs, someone who makes that kind of money?”
Mr. Warren said that although he does not condone steroid use, he believes it is pervasive in professional sports.
Matt Lehr’s attorney is trying to discredit Jacobs suggesting that the case against Lehr will be dropped due to faulty information provided by Jacobs. But David Jacobs has denied providing federal prosecutors with the names of customers who bought steroids from him stressing that evidence and associations with Lehr were established independent of his cooperation.
Mr. Jacobs denies that he gave up any of his customers’ names to prosecutors. But he says during the course of their investigation of him – which he says dates back to 2005 – authorities tracked his associations and developed the information on their own…
Federal prosecutors are looking at bank records, correspondence and other evidence analyzing what investigators believe could outline transactions involving anabolic steroids and human growth hormone between Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Lehr.
One thing is for certain – the federal investigation in Texas is far from over. All parties involved in related steroid cases must continue to wait for the conclusion of their respective cases while the feds pursue anabolic steroids in football.
Former NFL running back Femi Ayanbadejo has filed a lawsuit against Author L. Rea of ALR Industries. He claims an undisclosed ingredient in ALRI Max LMG caused him to fail an NFL doping test leading to his release by the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears. Ayanbadejo tested positive for a “form of nandrolone.” Ayanbadejo’s attorney is blaming the positive steroid test on the manufacturer for possibly intentionally “spiking” the supplement with banned substances or contamination from the manufacturing facility (”Ex-Aztec sues supplement maker, shop over failed NFL steroid test,” March 11).
“We’re still not sure whether we have a pure cross-contamination matter (from the mixing facility), or we have a company that actually spiked the supplement (intentionally),” said Ayanbadejo’s attorney, Jim Miller.
However, he ignores a third possibility that doesn’t work in his client’s favor - that the ingredient that caused the positive drug test was plainly listed on the label and his client was unaware that the metabolites would result in a positive steroid test. Then this is no longer a case of “undisclosed ingredients” or “contaminated supplements.”
The marketing materials for ALRI Max LMG clearly list the ingredients and similarity to other progestin-based steroids like trenbolone and nandrolone.
The active compound in Max LMG is 13-ethyl-3-methoxy-gona-2,5(10)-diene-17-one… It is legal because it is a progestin, and before anyone thinks “birth-control”, remember that trenbolone, nandrolone, methyltrienolone and Methyl-Dien all are also progestins. I doubt anyone will disagree with the effects of these compounds upon favorable body composition.
In addition, the label warned consumers about androgenic side effects.
Possible side effects include acne, hair loss, hair growth on the face (in women), aggressiveness, irritability, and increased levels of estrogen.
Are supplement companies responsible for ensuring that their supplements are “IOC-friendly”? Or are supplement companies only responsible for complying with legal requirements of DSHEA (which permit certain progestin-based steroidal compounds)?
