AP News, February 28th, 2007
A New York prosecutor said athletes and celebrities were involved as customers in an illicit steroid sales network that produced at least four arrests on Tuesday.
However, Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares declined to name any specific consumers. He said his office was not investigating patients, but instead alleged producers and distributors that include doctors and pharmacists.
"I understand that the involvement of athletes and celebrities makes this a sexy story, but I assure you we are not, at this point, we are not concerned with the celebrity factor," Soares said. "Our focus here is to shut down distribution channels."
Soares was in Florida on Tuesday for two pharmacy raids conducted by federal and state agents at two Signature Pharmacy stores. Four company officials, including a married couple who are both pharmacists, were arrested. They were charged with criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions, criminal sale of a controlled substance and insurance fraud.
Though the arrests were public, Soares refused to answer most questions about the case, which involves sealed indictments.
"I cannot elaborate any more and I cannot provide you with any more details without compromising an investigation which even at this point is at a very sensitive stage," he said.
Soares said his investigation began after an Albany doctor was arrested for allegedly trafficking in narcotics online.
The Times Union of Albany, N.Y. first disclosed the steroid investigation in a report using unidentified sources. The newspaper said investigators found evidence linking some athletes to fraudulently prescribed testosterone and other performance-enhancing drugs. The paper said the athletes included former major league baseball and NFL players, college athletes, high school coaches, a former Mr. Olympia champion and another top contender in the bodybuilding competition.
Arrested on Tuesday were Stan and Naomi Loomis, who own the Signature Pharmacy in downtown Orlando, Stan's brother Mike Loomis and Kirk Calvert, Signature's marketing director. Soares' office identified Signature as a "producer" of the illegally distributed drugs.
Also arrested as a result of the New York investigation were three people Soares' office described as "distributors" from a Sugarland, Texas, company called Cellular Nucleonic Advantage.
Before the investigation is complete, Soares' office said, up to 24 people could face charges, including six doctors and three pharmacists.
Twelve agencies, each pursuing its own charges, participated in the Tuesday raids on two Signature Pharmacy locations.
The Loomis' downtown pharmacy contains a small retail store that sells bodybuilding supplements, a high-tech drug-manufacturing laboratory and executive offices.
Investigators loaded boxes into a truck and seized drugs, including anabolic steroids and a substance known as "human growth hormone," said Carl Metzger, narcotics commander for Orlando's Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation.
"I can't tell you what percentage of their business was legal and how much involved stacking steroids, but there was a mix," Metzger said.
Metzger said the search revealed a "raid card" at numerous Signature Pharmacy employees' desks with contact information for lawyers. The top of the documents identified it as a Food and Drug Administration/Drug Enforcement Agency telephone list, but only lawyers were on the card, Metzger said.
"We found that to be somewhat interesting," Metzger said. "Why would you need to have something entitled a phone call list for the DEA and FDA with lawyers' names if you have nothing to hide?"
Soares' office alleges that Signature filled prescriptions, in some cases from unlicensed doctors, knowing they had not met patients. The office said at least $250,000 in illegal and controlled substances were sold directly into Albany County, and New York state sales exceeded $10 million.
