Busted - Designer Steroids as Dietary Supplements

[Body-Buildah]

]
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/supplement-retailers-plead-guilty-cases-involving-distribution-designer-steroids-dietary

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Supplement Retailers Plead Guilty in Cases Involving Distribution of Designer Steroids as Dietary Supplements
Two men and a California business each pleaded guilty this week to conspiring to distribute consumer products that contained designer anabolic steroids.

Justin Smith, 35, of Batesville, Arkansas, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2021, to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances. According to court documents, Smith admitted that he sold designer steroids that he marketed as “dietary supplements.” Smith further admitted knowing that the unlawful distribution of designer steroids was subject to criminal penalties under the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2014 (DASCA), which amended the Controlled Substances Act to include designer steroids. Smith owned Legendary Supplements, an online store whose most profitable products contained anabolic steroids. Smith admitted to distributing more than 60,000 capsules of illegal steroids to consumers in 2015 and 2016.

In a separate but related case, Leonard Shemtob, 39, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty on May 19, 2021, to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances. According to court documents, Shemtob owned and controlled Strong Supplements LLC, an online company that sold bodybuilding supplements containing designer steroids. Shemtob admitted that he also knew that the distribution of such products was illegal under the Controlled Substances Act and DASCA. Shemtob’s company, Strong Supplements LLC, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances.

“Dietary supplement products that contain steroids are illegal controlled substances,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will prosecute individuals and companies who ignore the law and put consumers at risk.”

“This week’s actions represent our continued commitment to pursuing and bringing to justice those who mislead the public and attempt to subvert the regulatory functions of the FDA,” said Assistant Commissioner for Criminal Investigations Catherine A. Hermsen of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations.

Both defendants pleaded guilty in Ft. Lauderdale before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas of the Southern District of Florida. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 12, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Shemtob and Strong Supplements LLC are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6. Shemtob faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Strong Supplements LLC faces a maximum penalty of five years of probation and a $2,500,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to court documents, Smith and Shemtob both stated that they purchased the designer steroids they sold from Blackstone Labs LLC, a corporation based in Boca Raton, Florida. Blackstone Labs and seven other defendants were previously charged by indictment in connection with a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. One defendant in that case pleaded guilty in 2019, and the remaining defendants are set for trial on Oct. 12, 2021.

The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation investigated the cases.

Trial Attorneys Alistair Reader and Steven Gripkey, Senior Litigation Counsel David Frank, and Assistant Director John W. Burke of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the cases with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

[Humble Narcissist]

All this while weed, heroin and meth should be made legal.......while cigarettes are the most dangerous of all.

[Taffin]

]
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/supplement-retailers-plead-guilty-cases-involving-distribution-designer-steroids-dietary

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Supplement Retailers Plead Guilty in Cases Involving Distribution of Designer Steroids as Dietary Supplements
Two men and a California business each pleaded guilty this week to conspiring to distribute consumer products that contained designer anabolic steroids.

Justin Smith, 35, of Batesville, Arkansas, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2021, to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances. According to court documents, Smith admitted that he sold designer steroids that he marketed as “dietary supplements.” Smith further admitted knowing that the unlawful distribution of designer steroids was subject to criminal penalties under the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2014 (DASCA), which amended the Controlled Substances Act to include designer steroids. Smith owned Legendary Supplements, an online store whose most profitable products contained anabolic steroids. Smith admitted to distributing more than 60,000 capsules of illegal steroids to consumers in 2015 and 2016.

In a separate but related case, Leonard Shemtob, 39, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty on May 19, 2021, to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances. According to court documents, Shemtob owned and controlled Strong Supplements LLC, an online company that sold bodybuilding supplements containing designer steroids. Shemtob admitted that he also knew that the distribution of such products was illegal under the Controlled Substances Act and DASCA. Shemtob’s company, Strong Supplements LLC, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances.

“Dietary supplement products that contain steroids are illegal controlled substances,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will prosecute individuals and companies who ignore the law and put consumers at risk.”

“This week’s actions represent our continued commitment to pursuing and bringing to justice those who mislead the public and attempt to subvert the regulatory functions of the FDA,” said Assistant Commissioner for Criminal Investigations Catherine A. Hermsen of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations.

Both defendants pleaded guilty in Ft. Lauderdale before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas of the Southern District of Florida. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 12, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Shemtob and Strong Supplements LLC are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6. Shemtob faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Strong Supplements LLC faces a maximum penalty of five years of probation and a $2,500,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to court documents, Smith and Shemtob both stated that they purchased the designer steroids they sold from Blackstone Labs LLC, a corporation based in Boca Raton, Florida. Blackstone Labs and seven other defendants were previously charged by indictment in connection with a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. One defendant in that case pleaded guilty in 2019, and the remaining defendants are set for trial on Oct. 12, 2021.

The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation investigated the cases.

Trial Attorneys Alistair Reader and Steven Gripkey, Senior Litigation Counsel David Frank, and Assistant Director John W. Burke of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the cases with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Guess I'll go easy on my pop-corn until October then...

[funk51]

Steroids Detected In Dietary Tablets
By Amy ShipleyNovember 30, 2005
A dietary supplement marketed to fitness and health enthusiasts on the Internet and in body-building shops contains anabolic steroids linked to two of the biggest doping scandals in sports history, including the renowned case involving East German Olympic athletes in the 1960s and '70s, according to a prominent researcher.

The supplement, which is sold under the name Halodrol-50, contains a steroid that closely resembles Oral-Turinabol, the principal steroid used to fuel East Germany's secret, systematic sports doping program, according to Don Catlin of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory.

Catlin said it also contains DMT, or madol, a steroid federal authorities say was developed for Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), the California nutritional supplement company at the center of a scheme to provide prominent professional athletes with undetectable performance-enhancing drugs.


Catlin analyzed the makeup of Halodrol-50 for The Washington Post, which purchased the product on the Internet and reimbursed the Los Angeles researcher for the cost of the testing.

The discovery provides further evidence that the country's multimillion-dollar dietary supplements industry also has become a clearinghouse for the distribution of anabolic steroids, which help build muscle and speed recovery from strenuous exercise but also can cause serious health problems when used in excess.

Last month, Catlin tested five other dietary supplements obtained by The Post and found that each contained anabolic steroids, four of which had not been previously detected. The Food and Drug Administration announced after publication of The Post's story on Oct. 18 that it had opened an investigation into the four companies marketing them.


An FDA spokeswoman said yesterday that the investigation is continuing. The official declined further comment.

It is illegal to sell anabolic steroids or any unapproved drugs as dietary supplements.

Halodrol-50, which costs $50 to $80 for a bottle of 30 tablets, is marketed by Gaspari Nutrition, a dietary supplements company based in Neptune, N.J., that sells bodybuilding and weight-loss products. Halodrol-50 claims on its label to "induce maximal visible changes in size and strength in the shortest period of time possible." It also recommends that the product not be used by anyone under age 21.

The Halodrol-50 label further states that it contains polydehydrogenated, polyhydroxylated halomethetioallocholane. Catlin described that chemical descriptor as "hocus-pocus." He said the language was outdated and vague and appeared to be deliberately misleading. The label makes no mention of DMT or other anabolic steroids.


"It's obfuscation," Catlin said. "There is no attempt to be clear and concise and to describe the product for what it is."

Rich Gaspari, owner of Gaspari Nutrition, did not respond to two requests for an interview made by telephone to associates at his company. He also did not respond to two e-mail requests for comment.

However, Bruce Kneller, a consultant to Gaspari, wrote in an e-mail late yesterday that he had spoken to Gaspari and was conveying a comment on Gaspari's behalf. "The product . . . was discontinued several weeks ago after the publication of an inflammatory article in The Washington Post," Kneller said, referring to the Oct. 18 Post story. "It is no longer made or sold by Gaspari Nutrition and, in fact, was only available for less than three weeks."

Though Halodrol-50 is no longer available on the Gaspari Nutrition Web site, the product continues to be marketed on other Web sites that sell bodybuilding substances.


In an e-mail sent by a Gaspari official to a distributor, which was provided to The Post, the Gaspari official said Halodrol-50 and another product called Orastan E no longer advertised on Gaspari's Web site would continue to be sold to good customers. The Gaspari official added that he hoped "the government and media will ignore us and think we got rid of them," focusing instead on the "other companies."

Oral-Turinabol anchored the secretive doping program in communist East Germany that led to that country's emergence as an Olympic power three decades ago, according to classified documents uncovered in 1990 following the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal, East German women won 11 of the 13 swimming events. But the side effects from the massive doses of steroids administered to the East German competitors were as remarkable as the athletes' successes. Women developed excessive body hair, deepened voices, massive shoulders and male secondary sex characteristics.

Criminal trials in 2000 resulted in the convictions of East Germany's Olympic president and chief sports doctor, but a number of former athletes are still grappling with medical, legal and psychological issues related to the doping program.


One of the two steroids found in Halodrol-50, Catlin said, more closely resembles Oral-Turinabol than any other known steroid, but the two are not identical in structure. The steroid would be undetectable in standard drug tests because it is not an exact match with Oral-Turinabol.

"This is an unknown," Catlin said. "If I had to pick one it's ever so close to, it's Oral-Turinabol. . . . It's very close."

Athletes taking Halodrol-50 would flunk standard sport drug tests, however, because DMT -- which Catlin identified more than a year ago -- is now detectable. DMT was one of three steroids found associated with BALCO. The others were norbolethone and THG, also known as "the clear."

The FDA is investigating four other dietary supplement companies named in the Oct. 18 story in which The Post reported that Catlin had found anabolic steroids in five products produced by four companies: Anabolic Xtreme, Applied Lifescience Research Industries, Legal Gear and PharmaGenX. The story led Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) to demand that the FDA explain its efforts to ensure that dietary supplements did not contain steroids. The FDA said in a Nov. 7 letter to Davis that the companies could face punitive action.

[Tom]

yes, let's bust all steroid and steroid like supplements because millions (lol) are using them to gain muscle and strength! bad bad!..muscle and strength! bad bad!

meanwhile? cigarettes and booze still good! meanwhile? cigarettes and booze kill how many every year around the world?...

and we all know the truth! government and corporations CAN"T MAKE MONEY off this stuff, like they can with cigs and booze.... end of story!

the funny thing is? even if steroids and steroid like supplements WERE legal, only 0.000001 % of the population would even use them anyway!..