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Copyright 2001 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune
September 29, 2001, Saturday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: PINELLAS, Pg. 1
LENGTH: 487 words
HEADLINE: 7 Charged In Steroid Probe
BYLINE: STEPHEN THOMPSON, [email protected]; Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 823-3303.
BODY:
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 steroids were brought into the country through the mail from Thailand, Poland, China, Australia and Mexico, according to Edward Berger, U.S. postal 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 companies 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. Brandon Harrison described himself to a clerk at one of the postal 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 related 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.
The Tampa Tribune
September 29, 2001, Saturday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: PINELLAS, Pg. 1
LENGTH: 487 words
HEADLINE: 7 Charged In Steroid Probe
BYLINE: STEPHEN THOMPSON, [email protected]; Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 823-3303.
BODY:
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 steroids were brought into the country through the mail from Thailand, Poland, China, Australia and Mexico, according to Edward Berger, U.S. postal 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 companies 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. Brandon Harrison described himself to a clerk at one of the postal 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 related 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.
