Edwin Porter was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison and three years probation for conspiring to distribute anabolic steroids through the underground lab (UGL) Medline Pharmaceuticals. Porter pleaded guilty to conspiring with Tyler Lunn and Matthew Peltz to import more than one kilogram of raw steroid powder from China and manufacture finished oral and injectable steroid products under the Medline Pharmaceuticals label and distribute the steroids over the internet (”Arizona Man Sentenced to 22 Months in Prison for Manufacture & Internet Distribution of Steroids,” December 9).
According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, PORTER conspired with two other Arizona residents, Tyler Lunn and Matthew Peltz, to purchase more than one kilogram of raw steroid powder from China, manufacture anabolic steroids at PORTER’s home or Lunn’s apartment in Phoenix, and distribute them to customers around the country through a MySpace.com profile “anabolic-ss” and an Internet web site they created,
www.anabolic-superstore.com. In August 2007, PORTER also instructed another individual to delete emails related to the distribution of anabolic steroids.
Kevin O’Connor, the former United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut originally in charge of the Medline Pharmaceuticals case, made headlines for his public proclamations that he would identify and contact individual customers purchasing steroids from Medline Pharmaceuticals, Superior Labs and other cases prosecuted under Operation Phony Pharm (”Customers Become Focus Of Steroid Probe,” September 27, 2007).
He said agents will work to identify the buyers, an unusual step because possession of a small amount of steroids is a misdemeanor that federal law officers do not normally pursue.
“But they’re going to get a knock on the door, just to wake some folks up. If they’re minors, then we have an obligation to let their parents know,” O’Connor said. [...]
“This is a public safety issue,” O’Connor said. “That’s one reason we want to do this outreach [to the buyers]. There could be all sorts of health concerns.”
Kevin O’Connor, former U.S. Attorney and Chief of Staff for former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was promoted by President George W. Bush to Associate Attorney General, to the number three position in the Department of Justice. Nora R. Dannehy became the acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. It is unknown whether Dannehy continued the aggressive prosecutorial “outreach” to customers of Medline Pharmaceuticals.
Four individuals were linked to Medline Pharmaceuticals steroid distribution ring as part of the Operation Phony Pharm investigation by the FBI’s Healthcare Fraud Unit in the District of Connecticut.
Matthew Peltz pleaded guilty in September 2007; he was in charge of internet marketing for Medline Pharmaceuticals on myspace.com/anabolic-ss and anabolic-superstore.com. Peltz will be sentenced in January 2009.
Walter Corey pleaded guilty in February 2008; he was recruited by Peltz to receive payments for Medline Pharmaceuticals in Pennsylvania.
Tyler Lunn pleaded guilty in March 2008; he collaborated with Porter to import and manufacture steroid products. Lunn was sentenced to 5 months in prison on September 5, 2008.
Edward Porter pleaded guilty in June 2008. Porter was sentenced on December 9, 2008.
