Christian Navoy was sentenced to 27 months in prison, 3 years probation and ordered to forfeit assets worth almost $2 million dollars by U.S. District Judge B. Avant Edenfield on March 31, 2009. Navoy operated a research chemical company that sold bodybuilding ancillary products. Navoy pleaded guilty to a single count of “conspiracy to introduce misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, to sell drug paraphernalia [anabolic steroid accessories], and to commit mail fraud”. Navoy’s guilty plea and forfeiture reportedly assured the freedom of wife Jennifer Navoy who had faced similar charges. The government has dropped all charges against Jennifer Navoy; she will walk away with no criminal history after the completion of one year of pre-trial diversion. A review of the case provides insight into how the government is cracking down on steroid and ancillary drug use in bodybuilding community.
Chris Navoy and Jennifer Navoy owned and operated ResearchChemist.com which sold various ancillary drugs and bodybuilding products such as Clomiphene, Sildenafil, Finasteride, Letrozole, Tamoxifen, and Vardenafil as well steroid conversion kits. Navoy did NOT sell anabolic steroids or controlled substances nor did authorities seize any illegal steroids during the execution of search warrants contrary to news stories, police statements, and government court documents. The case solely involved “research chemicals” and “conversion kits”. Many individuals in the bodybuilding community have closely followed this potentially precedent-setting case for the legality of “research chemical†sales.
Chris Navoy’s plea agreement kept the case from going to trial and providing definitive rulings on the legality of bodybuilding research chemicals. The judgment in the case of the United States of America vs. Christian J. Navoy does not necessarily make the sale of research chemicals illegal in the United States. What we do know for certain is that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has started investigating research chemicals which are not normally under their jurisdiction.
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A long-anticipated federal indictment against Applied Pharmacy Services (APS) on charges of conspiracy and distribution of anabolic steroids was unsealed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile. The massive 198-count federal indictment identifies twelve individuals as part of the Applied Pharmacy Services steroid distribution network including pharmacy owners and pharmacists, and doctors and businessmen who profited from customer referrals to APS. Six co-conspirators in the APS steroid distribution network were previously indicted in separate cases (“Pharmacy owners, others are charged in steroids case,” January 22).
“Each of the pharmacy owners and pharmacists named in the indictment are charged with prescribing and selling veterinary steroids, approved for cattle and livestock only, to humans,” U.S. Attorney Deborah Rhodes said in a prepared statement. “We will continue to work with the DEA, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy to ensure that medical professionals who abuse their position of trust are held accountable.”
The United States Attorney’s Office in Mobile showed a considerable penchant for political grandstanding against steroids in the APS indictment. U.S. Attorney Deborah Rhodes and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Donna Dobbins and Maria Murphy felt compelled to use inflammatory language in the indictment that was seemingly more reflective of personal anti-steroid bias than steroid law.
The prosecutors did not miss an opportunity to inject the label of “steroid user” to indicted individuals which served no other purpose than cheap attempts to further demonize the invididual; rather than restrict language such that it conformed to legally-defined crimes, prosecutors repeatedly identified defendants as “steroid dealers.” Read more
Howard Levine, M.D. of Northwest Lifestyle Medicine was sentenced to almost two years in prison for dealing anabolic steroids out of his Seattle medical office. According to court documents, Levine sold approximately FIFTY – 10mL vials of anabolic steroids (including nandrolone decanoate, stanozolol, testosterone enanthate, trenbolone acetate as well as oxymetholone tablets, human growth hormone, and nandrolone decanoate and testosterone gels) to two undercover agents and a paid DEA confidential source over the course of 18 months. Levine also sold several thousand dollars worth of anabolic steroids to a Las Vegas trainer for local bodybuilders on at least one occasion.
Over the course of the investigation, Dr. Levine was always alone in his medical office; there were no secretaries, nurses, or other administrative support staff present but he had a pool table a refrigerator full of beer. Levine never conducted any sort of medical assessment or history before prescribing steroids. During the course of the investigation, Levine discussed the resale of steroids by his clients including suggested prices. He also told his clients that they were considered drug dealers under the law and suggested that they refer their customers to him to avoid the possibility of criminal prosecution; he even offered to pay them a referral fee if they chose to do that.
Search warrants executed on Levine’s MSN and AOL email accounts (seattelmd@hotmail.com and ageisonlyanumber@aol.com) revealed that he sold steroids over the internet using the alias “Alan” where customers paid by credit card; there was no physical examination or medical questionnaire or any semblance of a doctor-patient relationship.
Levine was previously disciplined for selling Viagra over the internet via his company Confirmed.com LLC and ordered to cease selling prescription drugs via email and over the internet.
Levine was sentenced to prison for trying to extort $500,000 from Jack-in-the-Box stating that he was given spoiled chicken and threatening to take his story to the New York Times.
