Kristen Mealer, the most recent owner/operator of the underground steroid lab known as “Hell Fire Labs”, has pleaded guilty today to a single count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. Federal agents had raided Kris Mealer’s Arkansas home, his gym Stone County Fitness Center, and a warehouse. Agents discovered 400 grams of raw steroid powder and 6,626 mL of liquid steroids during the steroid bust. Mealer admitted to distributing 185,029 dosage units of various anabolic steroids (”Feds say national steroid ring had Western Pa. connections,” May 12).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Houghton said Mealer agreed to join the steroid ring known as “Hell Fire Labs” in January 2007 and that his participation continued until federal agents busted the operation in February 2008.
Agents raided Mealer’s Arkansas home and fitness center, Stone County Fitness Center. They also raided a warehouse, where Houghton said they discovered an “operational, underground anabolic steroid lab.”
Houghton said the lab was provided by a co-conspirator in Vandergrift in order to convert steroid powder into a usable liquid form. She said another ring member in Indianapolis provided Mealer with 250 e-mail addresses for customers, who ranged from Western Pennsylvania to Washington.
Hell Fire Labs was founded prior to 2006 and previously based in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. Hell Fire Labs started with the distribution of DNP and other non-controlled ancillary medications. They eventually expanded their product line to include various oral and injectable anabolic steroids. Read more
The manufacturers of the Whizzinator, a male prosthetic urinary device used to pass anti-doping steroid testing and employer drug testing, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell drug paraphernalia. United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan prosecuted Gerald Wills and Robert D. Catalano of Puck Technology as part of Operation True Test that targeted companies who manufacturer products intended to “mask” illegal drug use and/or anabolic steroid use in athletes (”Men who sold ‘Whizzinator’ admit to federal charges,” November 26).
Mary Beth Buchanan is the “porn and bongs” prosecutor who spent $12 million to put Tommy Chong in prison for nine months for selling pipes and bongs as part of Operation Pipe Dreams and Operation Head Hunter, has turned her attention to anti-doping detection devices even though federal law does not explicitly prohibit the use of such “masking products.”
The federal anti-doping law entitled Drug Testing Integrity Act of 2005 was introduced in response to Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith’s detention by airport police due to the discovery of the Whizzinator. The bill specifically criminalized the use of such items but failed to gather momentum (”Whitfield, Engel Introduce National Drug Testing Integrity Act,” May 9, 2006).
The devastating effects of drug and steroid use are well known and we should not allow companies to sell products like the Whizzinator to falsify their tests with impunity. These devices should not be sold legally in the United States and this legislation will make our nation a safer place to live.
Even though the legislation did not pass, Mary Beth Buchanan, the aggressive obscenity prosecutor and vice hunter, nonetheless decided to pursue Puck Technology and Whizzinator under the rarely enforced federal drug paraphernalia laws much as she did with the case against Tomy Chong and Nice Dream Enterprises; many critics (and federal prosecutors) regard the pursuit of obscenity and paraphernalia cases as a waste of money that diverts significant resources away from other more serious crimes. Read more
Byron Parker, owner of ResearchLabSupply.com, entered a plea agreement in U.S. District Court in Providence, Rhode Island on December 27, 2007. He has agreed to plea guilty to distribution of drug paraphernalia “which were primarily designed and intended to be used in the converting, preparing, injecting, and ingesting of anabolic steroids, Schedule III controlled substances” at his arraignment on January 10, 2008.
ResearchLabSupply.com was a very popular “conversion kit” provider discussed on many bodybuilding forums. The last day of operation for the website was on August 21, 2007 after which customers were notified of the store closure. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations charges only involved the sale of “drug paraphernalia” identified as kits used to convert anabolic steroid powders into injectable liquids (e.g. benzyl alcohol, cottonseed oil, sesame seed oil, syringe filters, syringes, sterile empty glass vials, etc.). Byron Parker was operating under the business name of Classical Insights, LLC dba Research Services, LLC of West Palm Beach, Florida. A review of the plea agreement reveals that Mr. Parker was NOT charged with distribution of any type of anabolic steroids and/or other bodybuilding drug – only paraphernalia.
