March 30, 2018: Lynn Man Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Prison for Role in Counterfeit Steroid Conspiracy
|
Food and Drug Administration
|
U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
|
---|
For Immediate Release |
United States Department of Justice District of Massachusetts |
---|
BOSTON – A Lynn man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a conspiracy to traffic counterfeit steroids, including testosterone and trenbolone, to customers across the country.
Philip Goodwin, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 130 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In November 2017, Goodwin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to traffic counterfeit drugs, one count of trafficking counterfeit drugs, one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
In April 2017, Goodwin and five others, including Tyler Bauman, a/k/a “musclehead 320,” were arrested and charged with operating a counterfeit steroid operation on the North Shore.
From approximately May 2015 until April 12, 2017, the conspirators manufactured steroid products - made from raw materials purchased overseas - in Goodwin’s home, and marketed them as “Onyx” steroids using “Onyx” labels that were also ordered from overseas suppliers. Onyx, now owned by Amgen Inc., is a legitimate pharmaceutical company that does not manufacture steroids.
The defendants sold the steroids online to customers across the United States using email and social media platforms, collected payment through money remitters, such as Western Union and MoneyGram, and used false identifications and multiple remitter locations to pick up the proceeds. Some of the defendants laundered proceeds from the steroid sales through Wicked Tan LLC, a tanning business located in Beverly, which they owned and operated specifically to launder the proceeds of the steroid operation.
In August 2017, Bauman pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced in March 2018 to 10 years in prison.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Raymond Moss, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Jeffrey Ebersole, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Harman Burkart and David J. D’Addio of Lelling’s Cybercrime Unit prosecuted the case.
Topic(s):
Drug Trafficking
Component(s):