One of the steroid dealers for former Canby Police Officer Jason Duncan Deason pleaded guilty to one count of delivery of a controlled substance. Brian Jackson, a former strength and condition coach for the Oregon City High School girls basketball team, was sentenced to 30 days Clackamas County jail and two years probation after admitting to selling steroids to Officer Deason. Jackson remains the subject of an FBI investigation into whether he sold steroids to other police officers and/or minors. The 350-pound Brian Jackson once told an informant that he did not fear criminal prosecution because his customers were cops (”Former Oregon City coach pleads guilty in steroids case,” May 21).
Clackamas County Circuit Judge Douglas V. Van Dyk ordered Jackson not to use or possess any steroids or human growth hormone, nor any alcohol or drugs and to pay a $107 fine to the court.
He also was ordered not to have any contact with co-defendants, Jason Deason, the former Canby officer who resigned from the job last July during an FBI investigation, and William Traverso, a Canby businessman also accused of providing steroids to Deason.
Clackamas County prosecutor Michael Wu said Jackson was given a lenient sentence due to his cooperation with the broader FBI inquiry involving anabolic steroid-related corruption at the Canby Police Department.
Canby Police Officer Jason Deason worked out with both of his steroid dealers at Nelson’s Nautilus gym in Oregon City. Brian Jackson and William Traverso have both told prosecutors that they sold steroids and/or human growth hormone (HGH) to Officer Deason Read more
Detective Sergeant Lisa McElhaney was identified as the whistleblower in the most recent “cops and steroids” scandal involving the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO) according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. Sgt. McElhaney led the investigation of the Lifestyle Rejuvenation Center in 2007 that uncovered suspicions of illegal steroid use by law enforcement in South Florida. McElhaney reported officers to their supervisors at the Plantation Police Department and the Broward Sheriff’s Office Read more
The Intermunicipal Police of Thérèse-De Blainville publicly announced the completion of its investigation into the distribution of Syrus Labs, a major Canadian underground lab (UGL) specializing in anabolic steroids. The announcement comes over five months after the steroid bust presumably to allow time for the laboratory at INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier to perform chemical analysis on the seized drugs.
Frédéric Vigeant was arrested and faces multiple charges related to the production, counterfeiting and possession of anabolic steroids and controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking, and a charge related to illegal firearms possession (”Pharmacie clandestine démantelée,” December 10).
Frédéric Vigeant was busted on July 25, 2008 when police responded to a domestic disturbance at the home of Frédéric Vigeant in an affluent neighborhood in Sainte-Thérèse, a suburb north of Montreal, during which they observed significant quantities of tablets and a couple of cannabis plants in plainview. Acting on this information, law enforcement obtained a search warrant and searched and seized substantial quantities of anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs labelled under the Syrus Labs brand as well as recreational drugs (marijuana and amphetamines) stored in the basement of the residence Read more
Three individuals who purchased anabolic steroids with a prescription for their own personal use were indicted on steroid possession charges. Cleveland Police Lieutenant Anthony Tuleta, former firefighter Craig Romey and former EMS paramedic Angel Otero purchased various anabolic steroids and human growth hormone with prescriptions obtained over the Internet from California-based physician Ramon Scruggs via the New Hope Med website. A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Tuleta, Romey and Otero on multiple drug (steroid) possession charges for illegally purchasing steroids for bodybuilding purposes (”Cleveland cop, firefighter and paramedic charged in steroid probe,” November 10).
Police Lt. Anthony Tuleta, 50, former firefighter Craig Romey, 38, and former EMS paramedic Angel Otero, 41, received prescriptions over the Internet between January 2003 and June 2007 from Dr. Ramon Scruggs of Santa Ana, Calif., prosecutors said. Scruggs faces 13 charges for drug trafficking.
Prosecutors have rarely pursued cases against individual steroid users who obtained steroids with a doctor’s prescription. Successful prosecution would require successfully defining and proving legally ambigous issues like what constitutes a “valid medical prescription,” “legitimate medical purpose,” and “doctor-patient relationship.” Only recently has legislation (i.e. Ryan Haight Act) been introduced to clarify such definitions. Perhaps prosecutors are now emboldened to take on such cases now that the Act has passed and will be enacted in April 2009 Read more
Scott Henson’s Grits for Breakfast, a top criminal justice and civil liberties blog, believes that side effects from anabolic steroids are relatively modest and that steroids should be legalized. He still believes that steroid use among law enforcement represents a potentially serious problem, but only because the non-medical use of anabolic steroids has been criminalized. Read more
The defense attorney for Roberto Pulido blamed anabolic steroids for a long list of crimes committed as part of a police corruption scandal. Pulido claims that being “pumped full of steroids” caused him to get involved in transporting cocaine into Boston. He claims that his steroid addiction made him exaggerate many of his behaviors.
Roberto Pulido and his public defender would like you to believe that anabolic steroids caused or contributed to the following criminal behavior. Why take responsibility for any crime when you can blame steroids?
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Pulido “knowingly and intentionally combined, conspired, confederated and agreed… with other persons, known and unknown, to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, a quantity or mixture of a substance containing cocaine” in excess of 140 kilograms.
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Pulido obtained identifying information for the identity theft ring, including name, address, date of birth and social security number of identity theft victims. Pulido used Boston Police Department computers to access Registry of Motor vehicle database and pull identifying information on expensive vehicles he observed while on duty. Pulido said, “it’s easy for me, I just run people’s plates, you know. I go look for fucking fancy ass cars and fucking run ‘em like Brookline and Cambridge…”
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Pulido purchased fraudulent gift cards in amounts in excess of $100,000 at 50 cents on the dollar. He used the gift cards himself and sold other gift cards at a profit.
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Pulido provided protection for approximately 50-60 after-hours narcotics and prostitution parties where nude dancers and prostitutes often sold sexual favors including lap dances, fellatio and sexual intercourse. Pulido wanted to expand into protecting “water parties” where bottled water and ecstasy were sold in combination.
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Pulido planted narcotics and a gun in the vehicle of a former business partner, had him arrested during which he had his home robbed of $40,000. Pulido threatened another business partner saying “…if the dog is out and he tries to attackus, half of the dog is gonna be hung on the front door and the other half is gonna be hung on the rear door… Don’t let it go personal. If you want to make it personal, after the dog it will be your wife, then it’ll be your mother, then it’ll be your brother, and it’ll be your unborn child.” Pulido, in full military gear, physically assaulted an individual he suspected of stealing his car stereo stating.
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Pulido cashed illegal alien’s checks for a 10% money laundering fee.
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Pulido attempted to sell his girlfriend’s truck to a “chop-shop” and filed a false police report claiming it was stolen in order to collect reimbursement from his insurance company in a case of insurance fraud.
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Pulido smuggled illegal aliens into the country for $5,000 per person.
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Pulido gave up sensitive information on his fellow officers at the Boston Police Department to individuals outside the department.
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Pulido aided and abetted loan sharking.
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Pulido trafficked in stolen electronics.
Apparently steroid use by police officers is the least of our worries; a bigger threat to the public safety is police corruption. Unless, of course, you believe that anabolic steroids are the root of all evil when it comes to police corruption!
I’m reminded that criminal defenses of “steroid addiction” and “steroid-induced cognitive deficits” and “steroid facilitated rage reaction” are all variations of the “dumbbell defense” that Yesalis and Bahrke addressed in a review of the psychological effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids.
Several cases have recently been reported (Coacher & Workman 1989; Editorial 1988b,c,d,e; Lubell 1989; Maryland v. Michael D. Williams 1986; Moss 1988) wherein presumed psychological and behavioural effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids are alleged by defendants to have significantly influenced the commission of criminal acts. This legal strategy has been identified in the popular press as the ‘dumbbell defense’ (Editorial 1988c).
These defense strategies have become more popular with the increasing degree of steroid demonization in our society. Fortunately, these legal strategies, lacking in any credible scientific support, are not terrible effective in our justice system.
The 17-year old Matthew Wong was arrested by the Grapevine Police Department on six count of manufacturing and distributing anabolic steroids. The teenager allegedly made the steroids in his own underground lab on a “quiet street where children play.” Police also arrested 26-year-old Averil Cavazos on steroid distribution charges (”Grapevine police bust alleged steroid operation,” April 14).
“Anybody could be their clients,” said Sgt. Kim Smith with the Grapevine Police Department. “We don’t have any information on who their client base was.”
Police issued a strongly worded warning about steroids.
“It can become addictive and can become dangerous and fatal,” Smith said.
The media and law enforcement continue to remind the public about the fatal dangers of steroids.
Pasco County Deputy Rodney Philon was indicted today in federal court for giving 10 Dianabol (methandrostenolone) tablets to a DEA confidential source (”Pasco Deputy Indicted on Steroid Charge,” April 11).
Philon initially said he had just completed his own cycle and was taking a week off and would provide the drugs to the source when he resumed, the complaint states. The source asked whether he or she could start earlier, and Philon said he would try to get the steroids, the complaint states.
The source made arrangements to meet Philon at a Publix supermarket on State Road 54 in Pasco. There, Philon gave the source a plastic sandwich bag with 10 pink tablets of Dianabol, the complaint states. Philon told the source how to use the pills.
This reprsents a 1 to 5 day supply of the anabolic steroid methandrostenolone for most bodybuilders.
The Phoenix Police Department has experienced its fair share of problems with the use of anabolic steroids by its officers over the past couple of years. An investigation by the local Phoenix CBS affiliate and KPHO.com exposed widespread use of steroids in the Phoenix PD. A subsequent federal investigation by the DEA and internal probe by Phoenix P.D. confirmed the same thing (”Federal steroid probe widens: 5 investigates how Phoenix police are responding,” July 23, 2007).
As a result, the State of Arizona has been under a greater deal of political pressure to do something about the “problem.” Today, we learned that the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board has agreed upon a course of action to eliminate steroid use by Arizona police officers (”State acts on ending officer juicing: Doctor works with State board on new rules,” March 21).
Arizona could soon be the first state in the country to forbid the use of illegal anabolic steroids in their police officers.
The introduction to the article caught me by surprise. After all, the illegal use of anabolic steroids is already a felony under federal law therefore illegal in ALL states (police officers included). The non-medical use of anabolic steroids is already prohibited by federal law and most state laws; most police departments around the country have explicit policies forbidding illegal steroid use by its officers as well. So, how could Arizona be the first state to ban illegal steroid use by police officers?
After reading the article carefully, it appears the new rules really don’t do anything to further enforce existing rules banning the illegal use of anabolic steroids. Instead, they seek to restrict the “medical use” of anabolic steroids by the officers under its authority.
The new rules give the State the authority to intervene in the doctor-patient relationships of police officers and define the acceptable medical treatment should an officer’s physician prescribe anabolic steroids.
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Any officer using injectable anabolic steroids must notify their commander within 72 hours.
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They must supply a doctor’s prescription within a week.
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The prescription can’t be any stronger than the FDA approved dose of 300 mg per two weeks.
The rules are allegedly needed because some physicians illegally prescribe steroids to police officers. If the steroids are illegally prescribed, why aren’t the physicians targeted? Why are the medical records of officers invaded instead? Why are local police departments given authority to dictate acceptable medical treatment for its officers?
Why does the State of Arizona feel an invasion of medical privacy is justified? Apparently, anabolic steroids become unacceptable the moment an officer starts lifting weights or bodybuilding or getting bigger!
“If somebody needs steroids where they have a disease or they can’t produce testosterone, they’re OK but if someone’s using it to bodybuild or get bigger, they’re not under the protection of the law,” Gutman said.
If the primary concern is hyper-muscular officers or bodybuilding, then perhaps a more effective policy would be to enforce maximum body mass index (BMI) as a condition of employment? Or ban officers from working out?! Of course, that is silly.
“Arizona will be the first state in the nation to protect its police officers from the ill effects of long-term steroids use and protect the public from somebody who has a steroids rage,” Gutman said.
It seems a little hypocritical for state officials to point to protecting the “health” of officers when they send officers out on the street to face violent offenders where they put their life at risk everyday. It seems to me that the best way to protect the short-term and long-term “health” of officers would be to provide them with every possible advantage over their opponents (i.e. dangerous criminals).
That really leaves protecting the public from so-called steroid “roid rage” as the primary reason that use of anabolic steroids by law enforcement is a major concern. Roid rage and the psychological effects of anabolic steroids have been covered extensively by true scientific researchers like Jack Darkes, PhD, a substance abuse expert at the University of South Florida.
Attorney Philip Sweitzer also has an excellent analysis of the issue of anabolic steroids in law enforcement (”Drug Law Enforcement in Crisis: Cops on Steroids“). I highly recommend it.
In closing, enjoy this video commentary below, courtesy of Steroid.com (”Cops and Steroids – Who Cares?”)
Reporters from around the country have descended upon Houston, Texas pursuing their steroid witch hunt against anyone who may have used steroids or could have potentially provided anabolic steroids to Major League Baseball players e.g. Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. The targets in their steroid investigation have expanded from fitness professionals Kelly Blair (of 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness) and Shaun Kelley (of Shaun Kelley Weight Control) to at least one Houston-area physician.
In the absence of evidence connecting Shaun Kelley with providing steroids to Roger Clemens, speculation surrounds Lisa Routh, M.D. of Brainwaves Neuroimaging Clinic in Houston who worked with Shaun Kelley.
There is no evidence that Dr. Routh prescribed steroids to Roger Clemens or any major league baseball player for that matter but she was outspoken in her defense of the use of anabolic steroids in medicine. She admits to prescribing testosterone and growth hormone to policemen, professional wrestlers, and people who work out in an effort to improve their quality of life. Furthermore, Dr. Routh proposed that professional athletes be permitted to use performance enhancing drugs under a doctor’s supervision (”Houston-area gyms part of drug culture beyond sports scope,” March 16).
Interviews with Routh, of the Brainwaves Medical Center in Houston, and with eight former and current employees of Kelley, reveal a corner of the fitness industry where the same drugs that are stigmatizing professional sports are seen simply as a lifestyle choice for others.
Routh told The News that she regularly prescribed testosterone and human growth hormone for a large number of Boston policemen, who “get on a frickin’ plane and come down here twice a year, for frickin’ growth hormone and testosterone.”
She said she prescribes other hormones for menopausal women and professional wrestlers – all in the name of quality of life. Furthermore she argued for legalizing such drugs in professional sports, provided athletes have medical care.
“We pay them ridiculously, because we expect performance, and I think the bottom line is safety,” says Routh, who proposes allowing big-league baseball clubs to contract with five or 10 doctors in every city who would be the only league-approved providers of drugs. Players caught going elsewhere for their ‘roids would get hit with a fine.
“If someone wants to use human growth hormone or a testosterone product, they need to be under a physician’s supervision,” says Routh. “If they buy stuff off the black market or off some gym rat and they’re not under a doctor’s supervision, they should pay a penalty, and they should get the penalty that hurts, in the wallet.”
The Daily News also persists in its efforts to tarnish and incriminate fitness professionals in Houston. They continued their attack on 1-on -1 Elite Personal Fitness (even though Kelly Blair categorically denied their allegations) by reporting that co-owner Kevin Schexnider was prescribed testosterone cypionate and Anadrol by Revolution Medical Center in Phoenix several years ago; further Schexnider knew former bodybuilder Craig Titus who is awaiting trial on murder charges.
Real journalists are supposed to rely on verifiable facts when writing news stories. Michael Brick of the New York Times appears to be guilty of sloppy fact-checking in his coverage of the federal steroid investigations down in Texas.
A black Hummer pulled into the Hooters parking lot as dusk fell. Arthur Dale Atwood, a professional bodybuilder with a 61-inch chest, opened the tailgate for a police informant to deliver more than 100 bottles of fake drugs made from vegetable oil.
The story implies that Art Atwood was selling and dealing “fake” steroids. Court documents which provide details of the sting operation indicate that federal investigators gave the police informant fake steroids in place of real steroids as part of the Atwood sting operation. “Fake” steroids are often used in sting operations to establish conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute.
Furthermore, the police informant involved in the federal steroid sting operation was Art Atwood’s best friend; Atwood had no reason to suspect he was being sold fake steroids. His best friend had been acquiring steroids from David Jacobs who was distributing legitimate steroids imported from China according to independent sources.
Prosecutors could have tried Atwood and Jacobs on multiple counts of drug conspiracy, seeking to make an example of two bodybuilders suspected of distributing steroids. But instead, they made deals that could keep both men from serving any prison time.
Art has informed MESO-Rx that he had not entered into a plea agreement with federal investigators and the New York Times assertion of such a deal was categorically false. Atwood has not been charged with a crime and it remains to be seen if charges are filed against him for his involvement.
Atwood and Jacobs were enlisted to cooperate in Operation Raw Deal, the federal government’s most aggressive drive yet to interrupt the importation and traffic of performance-enhancing drugs through nutrition stores, gyms and Web sites. In September, authorities in 10 countries coordinated the arrests of more than 120 people, seized more than $6 million and collected 11 million steroid doses, 3 boats and dozens of weapons.
While the Texas investigation is a complex and interconnected case, Atwood explains that his involvement in the case is different from Jacobs; Atwood does not have the same connections e.g. with NFL football players, nor does he have a plea agreement with prosecutors assuring him that he will avoid jail time. The facts involving Atwood’s case are significantly different and will be judged independently, contrary to suggestions by the New York Times of similarities between the Atwood and Jacobs cases. As he told the local CBS affiliate, “David did his own thing; I was my own entity.”
Through the summer, six other people connected to Atwood and Jacobs were arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute steroids. Most have pleaded guilty to the federal distribution charge. In interviews, investigators and defense lawyers described the six as bodybuilders who were supplied by Atwood and Jacobs and who were familiar with one another partly through competitions and mostly through online sales.
The New York Times implies that six bodybuilders were arrested as the result of Art Atwood’s cooperation with federal investigators. Atwood strongly denies the truth of this allegation; the implication that they were “turning people in left and right” is untrue. Furthermore, none of the six indicted co-conspirators of David Jacobs have accused Atwood as being responsible for their arrests.
While the parties affected by the federal steroid investigation in Texas are restricted by what they can say to the press by legal considerations, the full truth and details of this large scale investigation will become a matter of public record soon – most likely upon sentencing of the parties involved. MESO-Rx tries to provide additional information as it becomes available but the details are incomplete and we should be cautious before we rush to judgment in the absence of all of the facts.
The Los Angeles Police Department discovered former bodybuilding cosmetic surgeon Bruce Nadler, MD and his wife dead as the result of gunshot wounds on Monday, February 4, 2008. Authorities believe it is an apparent murder-suicide perpetrated by Bruce Nadler.
Bruce Nadler called himself the “world’s strongest plastic surgeon.” He was probably the best known cosmetic surgeon catering to amateur and professional bodybuilders. He had performed over 700 gynecomastia surgeries in his career; “gyno” is a side effect of anabolic steroid use when antiaromatase and/or estrogen antagonists are not use concurrently.
After retiring from the practice of medicine in August 2005, Dr. Nadler, who called himself “the world’s strongest plastic surgeon,” wrote the “The Nip Tuck Workout: Exercise through the Eyes of a Plastic Surgeon” and subsequently moved with his wife to Los Angeles to reinvent himself in a new career as personal trainer with the opening of Nip Tuck Fitness LA in Beverly Hills.
Retired plastic surgeon and certified personal trainer Bruce J. Nadler M.D. has brought his Plastic Synergy training system to Los Angeles. As stated in his book, “The Nip Tuck Workout – Exercise through the Eyes of a Plastic Surgeon,” Dr. Nadler has created an exercise program based on the plastic surgical principles of proportion and symmetry. It combines careful analysis with an individualized exercise prescription.
Bruce Nadler, MD retired after the New York State Board of Professional Medical Conduct charged him with 29 specifications of professional misconduct in thirteen patients according to public records. Rather than fight the charges, Nadler submitted and consent agreement and voluntarily relinquished his medical license.
The specifications of professional misconduct were primarily related to prescribing a variety of anabolic steroids, growth hormone and ancillary medications used by bodybuilders including Saizen, Serostim, Genotropin, Androgel, Depo Testosterone, Delatestryl, Deca Durabolin, testosterone cypionate, testosterone enanthate, Nolvadex, Proscar, Clomid, tamoxifen, Arimidex, Finasteride and Viagra. In each case, he was accused of the following:
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Failure to obtain and/or note an adequate and complete medical history and/or history of current complaint from patient.
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Failure to perform and/or note a complete and appropriate physical examination of patient.
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Failure to obtain and/or note appropriate and medically indicated laboratory studies on patient including: prolactin, TSH, LH, hepatic and renal function, and assays for estrogen levels and HCG.
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Failure to properly diagnose patient’s condition and/or rule out underlying disorders.
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Inappropriately and without medical idnication and/or justification, prescribing and/or maintaining patient on various medications.
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Failure to maintain a medical record for patient in accordance with accepted medical standards which accurately reflects his care and treatment of the patient.
Bruce Nadler’s beliefs regarding anabolic steroids and bodybuilding were controversial for physician. He explained his own steroid use and his willingness to prescribe steroids and growth hormone to his patients in an interview with Testosterone Nation:
I’m my own test laboratory in that respect because, in the last two years, I’ve been taking 6 to 8 IUs a week of growth hormone, and I alternate between 200 mg a week of deca and 200 mg of testosterone cypionate the next week. Instead of going super physiological, I believe in just going to maximum natural levels to that of a man in his twenties. In this way, there are no side effects.
Nadler was also critical of the steroid hysteria in the U.S. and the political posturing surrounding anabolic steroids:
I’ve always felt that politicians always have to make the majority of the electorate think that they’re doing something? So they inconvenience a small, unimportant group, like bodybuilders. They have no idea what they’re talking about. Somebody hands them a speech, and they go! They took something that could have been done safely and sent it to the black market and all of the inherent dangers that go along with dealing with that element. Will they ever be legal again? I hope so.
University of Mississippi quarterback recruit, Jared Foster, was arrested for selling anabolic steroids by Madison County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Division. Foster had been attending classes and informally working out with the Ole Miss football team. In light of the steroid arrest, the University of Mississippi has kicked Foster off the team and has withdrawn his full college scholarship to play football at Ole Miss.
Two years ago, when Foster was a senior in high school, police discovered anabolic steroids in his home. He was arrested on underage drinking charges. The underage drinking charges were dropped and no steroid possession charges were ever filed because Foster agreed to cooperate with local authorities in a joint steroid investigation by the Madison Police Department and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.
Foster is being detained at the Madison County Detention Center on the steroid-related charges.
