A Texas woman, who was a former employee of the wellness center Cellular Nucleonic Advantage, pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge Dec. 3 in Albany County Court. The Houston-based company reportedly engaged in steroid distribution activity, giving prescriptions to clients who were never examined by doctors.

Sweta Patel, pleaded guilty to single count of criminal diversion of a prescription medication. For this violation, the 26-year-old Patel could face up to five years probation.

Albany County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Baynes described Patel’s involvement in the multi-state steroid distribution investigation. Baynes said Patel was a “go-between for the clients and doctors” and that “she made sure the patients got what they wanted.”

This case was linked to the Florida-based Signature Compounding Pharmacy, which was alleged to be the center of the steroid distribution network, involving several “wellness clinics” and “anti-aging centers” across several states. The indictments against five people involved in the operation of Signature, including those of the husband-wife owners Stan and Naomi Loomis, were thrown out by a New York state judge September this year. Kirk Calvert, mentioned in the report below, was among the five defendants.

Patel’s lawyer Terence L. Kindlon, sought a dismissal of her charges based on Albany County Court Judge Stephen W. Herrick’s decision to throw out the indictment against the five Signature defendants. Kindlon’s motion was denied.

From Times Union:

Patel, along with Eugene Bolton, 40, and Monday Miller, 38, were among the first people indicted in the Albany-based investigation that stretches back more than three years. Their Houston company ran ads in muscle magazines for people seeking access to controlled substances.

Following their indictment, Bolton and Miller both began cooperating with law enforcement authorities against the operators of Orlando’s Signature Compounding Pharmacy, which was raided about four months later in February 2007.

Bolton, a former semi-pro football player, wore a recording device for investigators in Orlando during a meeting with a Florida physician and a Signature pharmacy executive, Kirk Calvert. During the meeting, Bolton handed $1,950 in cash to the doctor, Claire Godfrey, in exchange for prescriptions she had signed, records show. Bolton told a judge last year that some of the money was for prescriptions that were yet to be signed, according to records in the case.

Bolton said the meeting with Calvert and Godfrey had been to set up a deal for Godfrey to sign prescriptions that would be funneled to Signature pharmacy from Bolton’s so-called ”wellness center” in Houston.

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Tags: anti-aging centers, Cellular Nucleonic Advantage, Eugene Bolton, Kirk Calvert, Signature Compounding Pharmacy, Stan and Naomi Loomis, steroid distribution network, steroids, Sweta Patel, wellness clinics

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You know what’s worse than being caught sleeping on the job? It’s buying anabolic steroids on the job.

This is reportedly the crime of (former) Canby police officer Jason Deason. And evidence shows that Deason ordered his supply of the prohibited compounds using the official stationery of the Canby Police Department. Now, Deason and the police department Chief Greg Kroeplin are under federal investigation because of the possible collusion between the two law enforcement officers.

It was reported that Deason and his chief were former housemates and their ‘coziness’ is one of the grounds that prompted federal agents to spearhead a public-corruption investigation.

More on this from the OregonLive:

Two years ago, a neighboring police agency shared a hot tip with the Canby police chief: One of his officers had been spotted buying illegal steroids in Oregon City.

An informant had no difficulty identifying Canby Officer Jason Deason. He came in uniform and rode his police motorcycle to pick up the drugs.

What’s more, the seller — Brian Jackson, then a strength and conditioning coach for the much-heralded Oregon City High School girls basketball team — told the informant he didn’t worry about getting caught by the police because he was selling to the police.

Canby Police Chief Greg Kroeplin didn’t appear alarmed, telling the other agency’s supervisors he’d heard rumors of Deason’s dabbling in steroids many times but could never substantiate them.

Kroeplin brushed off that tip, but the FBI didn’t.

Federal agents this year launched a public-corruption investigation, revealing a cozy relationship between Kroeplin and Deason in the 24-member force that allowed the officer to brazenly buy steroids while on duty and in uniform and tip off his suppliers to police inquiries, according to multiple search warrant affidavits filed in U.S. District Court.

In the process of investigating Deason, authorities also uncovered a steroid distribution network that operated in Oregon, Arizona, and Washington.

Deason resigned on July 17, 2007. Jackson, meanwhile, was kicked out of his coaching post.

One of the most damning evidence collected by investigators on Deason was a copy of his handwritten order of human growth hormone and an anabolic steroid using the City of Canby police stationery. On said paper, Deason was ordering kits of hGH and testosterone from his supplier William Traverso. The former police officer even signed his name and left his Canby police extension and home phone number.

Dated April 30, 2002, it reads: “Bill; Here is $160.00 towards the stuff. $100.00 of it is for Brian’s and $60.00 is mine. Brian would like you to get 3 kits of the HGH and if you can 1 or 2 bottles of T200. He wants to know how much the T200 is. Thanks Jason.”

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David Jacobs may not be talking from the grave but he continues to drag more people into the mess he left behind. By mess we mean the steroid distribution network he created. His illegal activity also could have been the reason behind the murder-suicide he committed in June. Before he died, Jacobs had named names of individuals who are now under scrutiny, both from the public and the federal authorities.

Jacobs’ latest “haul” are two amateur bodybuilders who were sentenced for their involvement in said steroid distribution network.

Excerpts from the Dallas Morning News:

SHERMAN – A federal judge sentenced two amateur bodybuilders involved in the Plano steroids trafficking conspiracy to three years probation today and postponed final judgment on the third and final defendant until next month.

“I had to do it to be competitive in the sport,” he told the judge. “I’ve taken responsibility for what I’ve done. I’ll never go that way again.”

The case of Jacobs gained substantial media coverage because his illegal trade had NFL ties – he implicated several NFL players when he was arrested in April 2007. Jacobs, also a former bodybuilder, killed himself and his on-again, off-again fiancée, Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell in early June this year. The tragic incident took place at his Plano home shortly after he was sentenced to three years in probation and fined $25,000 on May 1.

After his sentencing, Jacobs stated that he wanted to make amends with his past misdeeds, saying he was ready to help clean up NFL. During his meeting with NFL’s security officials, he identified players he had supplied with PEDs. Jacobs also alleged that he taught some players on how to outsmart the league’s anti-doping programs.

The name of Matt Lehr came up and Jacobs had been very vocal about Lehr’s involvement with the steroid distribution ring. It was reported that the former Dallas lineman was romantically involved with Earheart-Savell, which caused some to speculate that jealousy played a part in the murder-suicide incident.

Lehr, who was already handed out a four-game suspension on October 17, 2006 due to violation of the NFL Substance Abuse Policy, had denied the steroid-related allegations of Jacobs. Lehr, however, admitted that he and Earheart-Savell had a romantic relationship.

Jacobs had provided NFL security officials with e-mails, cancelled checks and other documentary evidence from players he had dealings with, and thus conspiracy theories abound about the circumstances of his death. Many ask if it’s really a case of murder-suicide or a double homicide. According to police reports, Jacobs died of two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to his head and stomach. Multiple wounds, many say, are “uncommon” in suicide cases.

In April 2007, federal agents raided Jacobs’ home in Plano and yielded large amounts of PEDs, including 146 vials of steroids. Reportedly, Jacobs imported raw materials from China.

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Tags: Brandon Mark Smith, David Jacobs, Jamie Mongeau, Juan Carlos Ballivian, Matt Lehr, NFL, PEDs, raw steroid materials from China, steroid distribution network, steroids, two bodybuilders sentenced for steroid trafficking

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