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
