Thursday, September 11, 2008
ALBANY, N.Y. —
A New York judge threw out an indictment against five operators of a Florida pharmacy targeted almost two years ago in an investigation of illegal steroid sales over the Internet and by phone.Albany County Judge Stephen Herrick faulted the disjointed, confusing way county prosecutors presented the case against Signature Pharmacy of Orlando to a grand jury. He dismissed the indictment Thursday against key figures at the center of the case: pharmacy owners Robert "Stan" Loomis and Naomi Loomis, pharmacist Michael Loomis, and former business managers Kirk Calvert and Anthony Palladino.
"The amorphous quality of the evolving indictments, coupled with the cursory and inadequate instructions ... have impaired the integrity of the grand jury proceedings to such a degree that dismissal is warranted," Herrick wrote. Because the case has been delayed 17 months by the prosecutors' repeated grand jury appearances to recast the charges, the judge barred them from seeking a new indictment.
District Attorney P. David Soares said he will appeal the decision. He said Thursday another defendant from the investigation has pleaded guilty to three drug counts for selling oxymetholone and testosterone in 2006 to someone who didn't have a legitimate medical need.
Albany County prosecutors met a year ago with representatives from the Mitchell Commission who were investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. Soares also said prosecutors had been working for months with National Football League officials.
Signature was raided in February 2007 and 17 people have pleaded guilty to drug and conspiracy counts in Soares' probe, including operators and employees of several distributors that did business with Signature as well as doctors who wrote prescriptions, Soares said.
"We have been able to disrupt a multimillion-dollar criminal enterprise trafficking illegal steroids to thousands of people across the country. To date, five clinics have been completely shut down," he said.
Attorney Brian Devane, who represents Stan and Naomi Loomis, called the case "a long ordeal" for the couple, who deny any wrongdoing. "I'm not exactly sure of the condition of their business right now," he said.
It is illegal in New York for a doctor to prescribe drugs without examining the patient in person, and illegal for a pharmacy to dispense prescription drugs without a valid prescription. Soares said repeatedly the focus of his investigation was Signature and related distributors, not clients, and he declined to confirm the names of prominent athletes believed to be on client lists.
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