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This is a re-type of an article that was in the Tampa Tribune on Saturday, 29 September 01
7 Charged in Steroid Probe
Ring used chat rooms, investigators say
Clearwater - A bodybuilder with a broken leg, a bass player with a pierced eyebrow and a former Marine are among the suspects in a Clearwater based steroid distribution ring.
Their scheme began to unravel, authorities say, when one of the suspects mistakenly left a package on a counter without an address label.
The anabolic steriods were brought into the country through the mail from Thailand, Poland, China, Austrailia and Mexico, according to Edward Berger, U.S. Poastal inspector. The ring would then accept orders, typically made in computer chat rooms frequented by weight lifters, and ship small packages out to at least 175 customers across the country, Berger said.
One person charged is Edward W. Hatfield, a 25 year old bodybuilder who broke his leg while training , but still entertained dreams he would be a professional wrestler, according to court documents.
Hatfield had several post office boxes at private compaines throughout Clearwater where he would receive shipments, according to an affidavit. It was at a post office in Countryside where the ring shipped packages that someone left the parcel without the address label, and a series of checks led authorities to Hatfield's apartment, the affidavit says.
He and another suspect, Jarrod Harrison, 27, lived at the Grand Reserve at the Park apartment complex in Clearwater. Harrison and his brothers, Brandon 23, and Jeremy, 22, mailed shipments, investigators say.
Jarrod Harrison was described by his attorney in court documents as a former Marine who is now a real estate broker working at Spinnaker Resorts in Clermont. Brandom Harrison described himself to a clerk at one of the poastal businesses as the lead singer in a band, and Jeremy, who had a pierced eyebrow, was said to play the bass in the group.
The last of the seven to be rounded up, the three brothers were booked into the Pinellas County jail this week. All seven suspects were charged with varying counts of conspiracy, dealing a controlled substance or both in a 29 count information filed by the statewide prosecutor's office.
The other suspects are Joe "Tom" Doyle, 46, of Palm Coast, John D. Mier, 28, of Fernandina Beach and Joseph W. Elliot, 48.
Doyle is accused of ordering the steroids from Hatfield and using Mier to get them to Elliot, who runs a gym in Jacksonville.
All told, investigators with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs Service, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tallied 236 shipments to the Clearwater investigation between May 1, 2000 and September 2000.
Investigators learned that a parcel might contain 500 ampuls, plus 3,000 to 5,000 tablets of Dianabol, and it might cost a buyer $4,000 to $5,000 for such a package. Hatfield told authorities he typically made $20,000 over a couple of months selling the drugs, court records say.
My comment:
I want you to think about what happens when someone overlooks such a totally preventable mistake as not putting an address label on a package to be mailed.
The Mods on this board have spoken consistently that being careless or sloppy will get your ass slam dunked - Amen !
7 Charged in Steroid Probe
Ring used chat rooms, investigators say
Clearwater - A bodybuilder with a broken leg, a bass player with a pierced eyebrow and a former Marine are among the suspects in a Clearwater based steroid distribution ring.
Their scheme began to unravel, authorities say, when one of the suspects mistakenly left a package on a counter without an address label.
The anabolic steriods were brought into the country through the mail from Thailand, Poland, China, Austrailia and Mexico, according to Edward Berger, U.S. Poastal inspector. The ring would then accept orders, typically made in computer chat rooms frequented by weight lifters, and ship small packages out to at least 175 customers across the country, Berger said.
One person charged is Edward W. Hatfield, a 25 year old bodybuilder who broke his leg while training , but still entertained dreams he would be a professional wrestler, according to court documents.
Hatfield had several post office boxes at private compaines throughout Clearwater where he would receive shipments, according to an affidavit. It was at a post office in Countryside where the ring shipped packages that someone left the parcel without the address label, and a series of checks led authorities to Hatfield's apartment, the affidavit says.
He and another suspect, Jarrod Harrison, 27, lived at the Grand Reserve at the Park apartment complex in Clearwater. Harrison and his brothers, Brandon 23, and Jeremy, 22, mailed shipments, investigators say.
Jarrod Harrison was described by his attorney in court documents as a former Marine who is now a real estate broker working at Spinnaker Resorts in Clermont. Brandom Harrison described himself to a clerk at one of the poastal businesses as the lead singer in a band, and Jeremy, who had a pierced eyebrow, was said to play the bass in the group.
The last of the seven to be rounded up, the three brothers were booked into the Pinellas County jail this week. All seven suspects were charged with varying counts of conspiracy, dealing a controlled substance or both in a 29 count information filed by the statewide prosecutor's office.
The other suspects are Joe "Tom" Doyle, 46, of Palm Coast, John D. Mier, 28, of Fernandina Beach and Joseph W. Elliot, 48.
Doyle is accused of ordering the steroids from Hatfield and using Mier to get them to Elliot, who runs a gym in Jacksonville.
All told, investigators with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs Service, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tallied 236 shipments to the Clearwater investigation between May 1, 2000 and September 2000.
Investigators learned that a parcel might contain 500 ampuls, plus 3,000 to 5,000 tablets of Dianabol, and it might cost a buyer $4,000 to $5,000 for such a package. Hatfield told authorities he typically made $20,000 over a couple of months selling the drugs, court records say.
My comment:
I want you to think about what happens when someone overlooks such a totally preventable mistake as not putting an address label on a package to be mailed.
The Mods on this board have spoken consistently that being careless or sloppy will get your ass slam dunked - Amen !
