Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston are investigating the girlfriends of defendants indicted in the major Texas steroid bust codenamed Operation Pharmacia Juicy Fruit according to recently filed court documents. Prosecutors have made it clear to defendant Bruce Zaccaria and his attorney that they have the goods on a former girlfriend; she was identified by first name practically as an unindicted co-conspirator. The relevance of this disclosure is unknown.
One thing that has emerged as a new known fact to the United States is the following: while the defendant was working at My Mechanic (his co-worker has been proposed as a surety by the defense and his steady work record has been offered as evidence he is stable and reliable) and during the interception of calls between the defendant and Brock Falkenhagen, the defendant ordered and even met with Falkenhagen to receive anabolic steroids… Furthermore, the defendant was directing Falkenhagen at times to drop off the anabolic steroids with his girlfriend “Carly”… Clearly, the defendant exercises a degree of control over his then girlfriend who was receiving the illegal drugs on his behalf. [Emphasis added]
The “new fact” emerged from the extensive surveillance and interception of phone calls made by defendants during the course of the steroid investigation. There may have been thousands of intercepted phone calls. Prosecutors have not ruled out additional indictments arising out of the Texas steroid investigation. Read more
The detention of Bruce Zaccaria without bail has been exposed as inappropriate by a local defense attorney in the latest court filings from the major Texas steroid bust codenamed Operation Pharmacia Juicy Fruit. Attorney R. Trent Gaither, representing Bruce Zaccaria, has outlined seven factors that legally limit and confine government detention authority.
Gaither argues that the Government has violated the Bail Reform Act and abused its power by acting outside these constraints. Federal prosecutors have failed to identify a single applicable factor to justify the detention of Bruce Zaccaria. Read more
NPC Texas Chairman Lee Thompson was found in possession of “large quantities of different types of anabolic steroids” when he was arrested on May 25, 2009 according to federal prosecutors. Fort Bend County Sheriff Deputies arrested Thompson after a federal grand jury indicted him on steroid conspiracy charges for his alleged involvement with the “Falkenhagen” group.
Chris Downey, the attorney for Lee Thompson, dismissed the government’s characterization of the “large quantities” of steroids in his client’s possession as inappropriate. Downey argued that the quantity of steroids found was “consistent with personal use” IF all the steroids that were expired and therefore unsuitable for use were EXCLUDED.
The Government has alleged that the defendant was in possession of “large quantities” of anabolic steroids at the time of his arrest. While defendant has not yet completed the process of discovery in this matter, defendant has a good faith reason to believe that a review of the substances to which the government refers would reveal that some of the items were not suitable for use as they had expired. Furthermore, the quantity remaining would constitute an amount consistent with personal use and is not properly characterized as “large quantities”.
The new details in the Lee Thompson case were made public when Downey requested permission for his client to travel outside the United States. Thompson and his fiancee had made extensive plans for their wedding on the Carribbean island of St. Lucia on July 4, 2009. However, as a condition of Thompson’s release on a $50,000 unsecured bond, Thompson had to surrender his passport and was prohibited from traveling outside the United States. Read more
