IFBB pro bodybuilder Victor Martinez was unfairly subjected to a “witch hunt” by an inaccurate article appearing in the New York Daily News. Sports writer Christian Red inaccurately reported that Victor Martinez owned the Gurabo Supplement Store in the Dominican Republic when, in fact, Martinez does not have any ownership interest nor does he receive any monetary benefits from the supplement store. Daniel Ferreira, an attorney for Martinez, formally requested a correction in a letter to Christian Red of the Daily News to set the record straight.
Mr. Martinez’s posters are displayed in the store. The posters are for the supplements line Mr. Martinez endorses in the United States. By way of background, Mr. Martinez was invited as a guest poser to an event conducted by the Dominican Bodybuilders’ Federation. The Gurabo store, a sponsor of the event, requested that Mr. Martinez’s appear at the store and promote his supplements line. Your article somehow bestowed an ownership interest on to Mr. Martinez from the display of his posters of a supplements line from the United States in the Gurabo store. Your story lacks any credible evidence; I am very confident that you were not shown any documentation that supports your blanket assertion that Mr. Martinez is the owner of the Gurabo store.
The “irresponsible reporting” represents the most recent type of witch-hunt to target Victor Martinez. In 2007, Martinez was unfairly targeted in another type of steroid witch-hunt led by the grandstanding District Attorney David Soares of Albany County. Soares publicly identified Martinez as an “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the Signature Pharmacy steroid scandal; Victor was never charged with a crime after almost two years. The practice of naming unindicted co-conspirators is frowned upon by many in the legal community and unethical, if not unconstitutional. Attorney Daniel Ferreira decries the behavior of David Soares as part of a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct. Read more
Signature Pharmacy has filed a lawsuit against District Attorney David Soares and the Albany County District Attorney’s Office over its steroid investigation entitled “Operation Which Doctor.” The Signature Pharmacy steroid scandal implicated numerous professional athletes and entertainers including top pro bodybuilders. Several months later, an Albany County judge dismissed the criminal indictments against the principals at Signature Pharmacy due to the incompetence of prosecutor David Soares.
Signature Pharmacy and its owners, Stan and Naomi Loomis, allege that David Soares illegally operated outside his jurisdiction in the steroid investigation and prosecuted them without probable cause; Signature Pharmacy further alleges that David Soares is a political opportunist who flew in an Albany Times-Union reporter and tipped off local media to cover an unnecessary steroid raid that was clearly designed as a photo op to promote Soares’ celebrity during an election year Read more
