MOBILE, Ala., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An indictment was unsealed today charging 12 defendants, including three owners of a pharmacy and four pharmacists, with participating in a conspiracy that dispensed and sold thousands of dosages of anabolic steroids - including powerful veterinary steroids approved for animal use only - to users throughout the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Deborah J. Rhodes.
The 198-count indictment alleges that pharmacists at Applied Pharmacy Services, Inc. (APS), a compounding pharmacy in Mobile, Ala., illegally dispensed these steroids and other drugs to doctors and steroid dealers in Arizona, California, Texas, Washington, Colorado, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Florida and elsewhere. The indictment further alleges that these drugs were unlawfully distributed to hundreds of users in nearly every state across the nation, including teenagers and persons under the age of 21. The indictment also charges several of the defendants with money laundering and seeks the forfeiture of $4 million in drug proceeds and eight pieces of real property.
U.S. Attorney Rhodes stated, "Each of the pharmacy owners and pharmacists named in the indictment are charged with prescribing and selling veterinary steroids, approved for cattle and livestock only, to humans. We will continue to work with the DEA, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy to ensure that medical professionals who abuse their position of trust are held accountable."
The indictment charges A. Samuel Kelley II, Jason R. Kelley, Jodi C. Silvio, J. Michael Bennett, Robin K. Kelly, J. Mallory Mallon, Roger A. Everett, Brett W. Branch, Ronald E. Winter, James A. Abernathy, Daniel C. Riedel and Jesse S. Haggard with various drug and money laundering charges. As alleged in the indictment, doctors prescribed steroids to users, either directly or th
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