Conn. authorities charge men with selling steroids
By John Christoffersen, Associated Press Writer | September 24, 2007
NEW HAVEN, Conn. --Federal authorities in Connecticut have charged four men with selling anabolic steroids through a MySpace.com profile.
The indictment, unsealed in Hartford, came as more than 120 people were arrested in an 18-month international investigation of illicit steroid labs by the Drug Enforcement Administration announced Monday.
The Connecticut FBI investigation began last year independently of the international probe, but investigators worked with each other.
Edwin F. Porter, 41, and Matthew J. Peltz, 36, both of Chandler, Ariz.; Tyler J. Lunn, 27, of Phoenix; and Walter T. Corey, 37, of Charleroi, Pa., were charged with conspiring to distribute and distribution of anabolic steroids.
The indictment alleges the defendants purchased raw steroid powder from China, manufactured anabolic steroids in home laboratories in oral and injectable form, and distributed them to customers around the country through a MySpace.com profile and a Web site.
The indictment does not identify the customers.
Bruce Koffsky, Porter’s attorney, said his client intends to plead not guilty. Court records did not list attorneys for the other men.
Also as a result of the ongoing investigation, Alan R. Blair, 52, of Wilton, pleaded guilty in Hartford Monday to one count of distributing human growth hormone without a prescription. On Friday, Brian S. Tompkins, 29, of Deltona, Fla., pleaded guilty in Hartford to distributing anabolic steroids.
Blair admitted that from November 2004 to April 2007, he distributed HGH to customers throughout world using the Web site http://www.jintropin.com, authorities said. The HGH was shipped directly to Blair’s customers from a supplier in China.
As part of his guilty plea, Blair has agreed to forfeit to the government about $260,000 in illegal proceeds.