MESO-Rx has uncovered the identities of the labs that failed the tests based on a February 28, 2007 Body of Science forum post by Ronny Tober. We contacted William Llewellyn alerting him to this publicly posted information. He wanted readers to realize that there are serious “chain of custody” issues involved in the testing of such underground anabolic steroid products. This is the reason that he is unable to reveal and/or confirm the identities of the products that failed the testing.
The steroid samples tested were tested at the request of a popular Scandinavian board and obtained on the European black market. As such, there are no guarantees that the chain of custody has been preserved. In the underground androgen black market, it is not uncommon for counterfeit products of other underground products to be distributed. The products tested may or may not be original products produced by the company on the label. It is with this understanding that MESO-Rx is releasing the following information.
Most bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids manufactured by underground labs (UGLs) in the United States are primarily concerned with whether or not the product is accurately dosed with the anabolic steroid listed on the label. Some more health conscious steroid users are also concerned about potential health risks arising from the contamination of UGL steroid products with bateria and/or heavy metals. Fortunately, bacterial contamination is not a common problem since most UGLs effectively sterilize the product by adding ingredients such as benzyl alcohol, etc. However, few people have actually considered the potential toxicity of using anabolic steroids contaminated with heavy metals. Given that most of the steroid powder is illicitly imported from China, the possibility of contamination with lead, tin, mercury, arsenic, etc. is a real possibility.
Everytime a steroid source is busted, there is considerable internet buzz about whether the source will “rat out” anyone. And everyone involved in the underground steroid black market wants to know whether their colleagues, their customers, or their sources will turn their name(s) over to federal/state investigators. Internet entrepreneurs have realized the demand for this type of information, much to the chagrin of law enforcement, with websites like Who’s A Rat? (”Web site that rats out informants worries Dallas officials,” March 29).
The site seeks to expose people who “rat on a business associates, friends, or family members just to save themselves,” said Chris Brown, whosarat.com spokesman…
The site has survived because of free speech protections, he said. “The bottom line is we provide the forum. The members post…”
Currently, anyone can go to Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) and download information about their favorite busted steroid source, past and present, including the criminal complaint, the indictment, and the plea agreement. I think this sort of transparency in our criminal justice system is great.
Unfortunately, websites like WhosaRat.com and RateMyCop.com have raised concerns among law enforcement that may ultimately restrict the public’s access to court records. This is a worthy debate in and of itself. But I want to focus on another aspect the process - plea agreements - and why these do not necessarily make the defendant a “rat.”
Practically all individuals indicted in steroid conspiracy, steroid possession, and steroid distributions charges will ultimately reach plea agreements with federal prosecutors. But a plea agreement by a defendent does not always mean they have ratted out either distributors higher on the steroid supply chain or customers lower on the steroid supply chain.
Plea agreements, especially in victimless crimes like steroid possession, are often reached to ease an overburdened criminal justice system (”Plea deals help make courts efficient,” November 18, 2007).
Plea agreements can save time and money while bringing a faster resolution for the accused and accuser. Without them, experts say, the courts would become clogged, bogged down and overworked.
“Obviously, from the standpoint of the court being able to function efficiently, without plea agreements, the system would slow down dramatically,” said La Crosse County Circuit Judge Scott Horne, elected to the bench last spring after 22 years as county district attorney.
Prosecutors like plea agreements because they guarantee a conviction. There are several types of plea agreements. Defendants can plead guilty to a lesser charge or some of the charges for a speedy conviction. They can also agree to plead guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence. Obviously, these type of plea agreements do not make them a snitch or a rat.
Clearly, some plea agreements involve the cooperation with ongoing investigations and/or testifying against a co-defendant, etc. Even these cases don’t always involve snitching on others. For example, the “cooperaton” could involve teaching federal prosecutors how a major steroid smuggling operation works in exchange for a more lenient sentence.
Other plea agreements could involve testifying against a co-defendant or a party in a related investigation. Often times, prosecutors ask defendants to simply confirm the evidence already collected by prosecutors. But even then, sometimes the cooperation is really too innocuous to qualify the defendant as a “rat.” A good example is the recent testimony of Patrick Arnold (Ergopharm) at Tammy Thomas’ doping trial. Pat explains his testimony here to readers of the MESO-Rx Blog:
I was basically forced into a very crappy situation. Last year right before i went to prison they subpoenaed me to a grand jury hearing. in that hearing they showed me evidence they had against tammy and it was clear to me they had all they needed to show i sold her stuff. So i told them yes i did.
if i did not, then i would have gone to prison. and it would not have done anything to help tammy anyway.
the good thing about this is that tammy’s attorneys are not even trying to deny she got stuff and took it, so my testimony this week was pretty moot. they are using another angle and surprisingly it turned out that my 3 hours on the stand helped tammy’s side much more then it helped the feds.
Other plea agreements (usually the sealed variety) involve confidential informants or cooperating defendants involved in sting operatons; these are typically what are called “rats” or “snitches.”
But the problem with websites like WhosaRat.com is that when plea agreements are uploaded, members often do not discriminate and assume the agreements to be proof that the defendant is a rat.
Authorities point out that a plea deal is not necessarily proof that someone is an informant or plans to testify against another defendant.
While it is always wise to assume the worst to protect yourself, assumptions based on incomplete information may not always be accurate.
Anthony Roberts posted an entry in his blog about ongoing investigations resulting from Operation Raw Deal. I spoke with him on the phone and he informed me that federal agents with the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations and the Postal Inspection Service have recently made several informal “knock and talk” visits with customers (end users) who purchased steroids domestically from remailers. It appears that the feds are not targeting end steroid users (which is consistent with our sources involved in other investigations resulting from Operation Raw Deal.
Keep in mind that while Operation Raw Deal in large part crippled the steroid underground lab industry, authorities did not arrest a handful of large steroid remailers with connections to indicted UGLs. As there are still ongoing investigations, it is too soon to assume these remailers have escaped prosecution; there is the likely possibility that the feds are still building cases against them. Not everyone indicted as part of Operation Raw Deal has been sentenced leaving open the possibility that several are cooperating defendents in related cases.
Anthony Roberts tells me to expect a new series of Operation Raw Deal related steroid busts in the coming weeks. Otherwise, these remailers will likely become DEA confidential sources and informants in future federal steroid crack-downs in coming years.
Kenneth Herbert, one of the principals behind the anabolic steroid underground labs TexStar Labs, Phalco Labs and Nassau Pharmaceuticals, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids and has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. In exchange, prosecutors will drop 28 other counts listed in the federal indictment including money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Kenneth Herbert and his common law wife were arrested in September 2007 as part of Operation Raw Deal. Another steroid distributor who was arrested on March 28, 2007 in a related investigation provided information to the DEA that led to crackdown on the UGL.
Authorities claim they operated one of the largest underground labs (UGL) in the country. Court records show the following items were seized from Herbert’s residence:
Four pill/tablet presses, approximately eight kilograms of raw steroid powders, over 100,000 steroid pill/tablets, a clandestine steroids laboratory, and a large volume of glassware, vials, and bottling supplies. The items seized were consistent with a large scal steroids laboratory capable of producing at least 50,000 tablets per hour.
Kenneth Herbert is scheduled for sentencing on May 1, 2008. He faces up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000. Prosecutors will recommend sentencing at the low end of federal guidelines assuming the Herbert provides “substantial assistance” in agreeing to “cooperate, debrief and, if necessary, testify.”
Two of the principals behind the underground lab Pacific Rim Labs (PRL) have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to the manufacturing and distribution of anabolic steroids. Jimmy Ray Jones aka “Jimbo” and Dana Fiscus of Missoula, Montana both pleaded guilty to several counts including conspiracy to “manufacture, possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute anabolic steroids,” “unlawfully importing anabolic steroids” from China, and money laundering. The underground steroid lab did business under a variety of names including Pacific Rim Labs, Big Sky Sports Supplements and Ebay Solutions.
The senior citizen Jones was allegedly the owner of Pacific Rim Labs. Jones’ stepson, Dana Fiscus was in charge of internet sales of steroids, purchasing raw materials from China, and collecting payments from customers via Western Union and Moneygram wires and via mail at a private mail box purchased in his name on Reserve Street in Missoula, MT. Fiscus is married to a police officer in the Missoula Police Department.
The pair were busted after an internet distributor of Pacific Rim Labs in Wisconsin, Kyle Bredl, was arrested for selling $10,000 worth of anabolic steroids including methandrostenolone, stanozolol and oxymetholone to an undercover police officer. A joint steroid investigation between the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force (HIDTA) resulted in their arrests and indictments.
