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.
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!!
Larry Flynt’s Hustler Magazine is profiling three female bodybuilders in the June 2008 issue. IFBB pro female bodybuilders Colette Nelson and Melissa Dettwiller and NPC bodybuilder Amber Steel were featured. The pictures are by one of my favorite photographers, Brian Moss. If you read just the article (text and ignore the context) , you will find it to be a relatively positive piece for female bodybuilding. But of course, the issue of female bodybuilder nudity and the source of the article are certain to be controversial. Thanks to Sioux Country (via Hardbody) for alerting us to the “Seriously Female” article.
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…
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.
The Hennepin County medical examiner has determined that amateur bodybuilder Erik Fromm died from an accidental overdose of Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a highly potent painkiller described as 80 times as strong as morphine. Fromm was in a severe car accident that resulted in severe pain.
Fromm had a serious traffic accident about a year ago in Wyoming, causing him severe pain in his lower back and in his legs and arms, said Kevin Schreifels, a friend of Fromm’s.
“He was rating the pain pretty high,” said Schreifels, a doctor at Lyn-Lake Chiropractic in Minneapolis. He said he was unaware of Fromm using fentanyl.
Isaac Hinds of Lift Studios has launched Muscle Phone, a new text messaging service that will send bodybuilding news directly to your mobile phone via SMS. Just send a text message to 64274 (MUSCLE on most devices) and you will automatically be signed up to receive IFBB and NPC contest results as they happen. Isaac Hinds describes Muscle Phone SMS:
Muscle Phone breaks new ground for bodybuilding fans and I’m excited to launch with the start of the 2008 NPC & IFBB contest season. Those who sign up for the service will receive the 2008 IFBB IRONMAN PRO results via text message immediately after they are announced… Bodybuilding fans no longer have to be glued to their computers or rely on friends for the latest NPC & IFBB contest results or industry news and gossip. Muscle Phone allows fans to be connected to the industry at all times.
NPC bodybuilder Erik Fromm was found dead in home; he was 36 years old. The cause of death is under investigation by the Hennepin County (Minnesota) Medical Examiner’s Office. Police do not suspect foul play.
Erik From was planning to marry his fiancee, Micah Brown, on August 18, 2008 at Fromm’s ancestral home in Scotland. Now, Micah will travel to Scotland to spread Erik’s ashes on their planned wedding date.
[Erik was at] the happiest point in his life… Things were really coming together.
He was a warrior and been a hero to everybody — everybody’s big brother, everybody’s father.
MESO-Rx extends our sympathies to Micah Brown and the Fromm family.
A memorial service for Fromm is scheduled for Saturday at Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, 3600 Hennepin Av. S., Minneapolis. Memorials toward paying for Brown’s visit to Scotland are requested and can be mailed to Lyn-Lake Chiropractic, in care of Micah Brown, 2937 Lyndale Av. S., Suite 201, Minneapolis, MN 55408.
