DALLAS POLICE: 11 ARRESTED FOR MANUFACTURING, SELLING STEROIDS

The Dallas Morning News reports that a heavy burden has been placed by police on the broad shoulders of a number of area bodybuilders. Eleven men, including bodybuilders and weightlifters, have been charged with manufacturing and trafficking anabolic steroids, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Texas said.

The nine-count indictment includes allegations that the men conspired to distribute steroids, GHB (the so-called date rape drug), cocaine, and heroin. They also face charges of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug dealing crimes.

The U.S. attorney’s office spokesperson accused the group of manufacturing several different kinds of steroids that were not for their own use.  

In court documents, prosecutors revealed that one of the defendants, a former bodybuilder, and trainer, has agreed to plead guilty to a steroids trafficking charge. The newspaper report did not state what the man stands to receive from the government in exchange for the plea.

Another bodybuilder, 38, of Dallas, is identified as the head of a North Texas “distribution cell.”  

Last year, prosecutors seized a Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac Escalade from the man, claiming he purchased the Corvette with illicit profits from drug trafficking and had used the Escalade while conducting drug business. They filed a forfeiture suit to keep the vehicles.

Witnesses cooperating with authorities claim the man has been selling steroids illegally for more than a decade.

In some situations, it makes for some people to cooperate with law enforcement and prosecutors. In other situations, a defendant is best served by fighting the charges at trial. Those facing these decisions should discuss their legal options with an attorney experienced in these complex matters.

Source: Dallas Morning News, “Authorities say 11 arrested after Dallas-based steroid ring is broken up,” Kevin Krause, July 6, 2014