The FBI investigation codenamed Operation Phony Pharm remains active and may seek to prosecute additional individuals selling anabolic steroids according to court documents recently filed in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut. Attorney Matthew Maddox publicly reveal prosecutors’ intentions in a March 9, 2009 sentencing memorandum filed on behalf of his client, Corey Stanford. This is surprising news since all nine defendants associated with Operation Phony Pharm have already pleaded guilty as of June 2008: Edwin F. Porter (June 2008), Brian S. Tompkins (June 3, 2008), Brian W. Jeffery (May 5, 2008), Corey Stanford (April 14, 2008), Tyler J. Lunn (March 24, 2008), Walter T. Corey (February 2008), Alan R. Blair (September 24, 2007), Matthew J. Peltz (September 27, 2007) and Hiroshige Cranney (May 21, 2007).
Corey Stanford (of Austin, Texas) was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 7, 2008 well after all other Operation Phony Pharm defendants had pleaded guilty. Stanford’s plea agreement called for 8 to 14 months imprisonment; Stanford’s attorney did not feel a downward departure was warranted at the time. However, this all changed when sentencing was delayed for 9 months so that Stanford could engage in “an intensive cooperative relationship with the federal government.” This represented an unusual move for prosecutors who had secured guilty convictions for all indicted defendants. Operation Phony Pharm, by all appearances, appeared to be nearing its conclusion. This suggests that prosecutors in the United States Attorney’s Office in Connecticut may seek additional steroid-related indictments, possibly in Texas. Read more
Edwin Porter was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison and three years probation for conspiring to distribute anabolic steroids through the underground lab (UGL) Medline Pharmaceuticals. Porter pleaded guilty to conspiring with Tyler Lunn and Matthew Peltz to import more than one kilogram of raw steroid powder from China and manufacture finished oral and injectable steroid products under the Medline Pharmaceuticals label and distribute the steroids over the internet (”Arizona Man Sentenced to 22 Months in Prison for Manufacture & Internet Distribution of Steroids,” December 9).
According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, PORTER conspired with two other Arizona residents, Tyler Lunn and Matthew Peltz, to purchase more than one kilogram of raw steroid powder from China, manufacture anabolic steroids at PORTER’s home or Lunn’s apartment in Phoenix, and distribute them to customers around the country through a MySpace.com profile “anabolic-ss” and an Internet web site they created, www.anabolic-superstore.com. In August 2007, PORTER also instructed another individual to delete emails related to the distribution of anabolic steroids.
Kevin O’Connor, the former United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut originally in charge of the Medline Pharmaceuticals case, made headlines for his public proclamations that he would identify and contact individual customers purchasing steroids from Medline Pharmaceuticals, Superior Labs and other cases prosecuted under Operation Phony Pharm (”Customers Become Focus Of Steroid Probe,” September 27, 2007). Read more
Brian W. Jeffery aka “The Iron Bull” was sentenced to 16 months in prison and 3 years probation for selling anabolic steroids over the internet. Jeffery imported raw steroid powder from China and converted it to oral and injectable steroids in an underground lab (UGL) in Arizona. He sold the steroid products under the label “Superior Labs” and advertised the sale of steroids to bodybuilders on various internet message boards including Getanabolics.com (”Superior Labs for Superior People”) . Jeffery has been detained since his arrest on September 27, 2007. He pleaded guilty to one count of steroid distribution on May 5, 2008 Read more
Tyler Lunn, the third of four defendants behind the underground lab Medline Pharmaceuticals has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. Matthew Peltz and Walter Corey have previously reached plea agreements with prosecutors. The guilty pleas are the result of Operation Phony Pharm initiated by FBI’s Healthcare Fraud Unit in the District of Connecticut in April 2006. The only defendant who has not pleaded guilty is Edwin Porter. Tyler Lunn’s plea agreement was filed on Monday (”Phoenix man pleads guilty to selling steroids,” March 24)
Tyler Lunn of Phoenix was one of four men charged in Connecticut with buying raw steroid powder from China and selling anabolic steroids through a MySpace.com profile and a Web site.
The 28-year-old faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in New Haven federal court on June 12.
Matthew Peltz was the first to plead guilty in September 2007; he was in charge of internet marketing for Medline Pharmaceuticals on myspace.com/anabolic-ss and anabolic-superstore.com. Read more
