Thread: Pharmagen, International steroid ring operated out of purported Portland car dealership, prosecutor says

International steroid ring operated out of purported Portland car dealership, prosecutor says

Federal agents in five states early Thursday swooped in to arrest 16 people accused of importing illegal anabolic steroids from China and using a Portland business as a front for their drug trafficking and international money laundering.

The two accused leaders of the alleged steroid ring – Shane Jack, 51, and Landon Britt, 29 -- are listed as operators of SJ Motors along Northeast Airport Way, registered with the state as a car dealership.

Jack and Britt used a luxury apartment in Happy Valley as their drug manufacturing site – where powder and tablet steroids shipped from China were converted to liquid steroids, then packaged and distributed across the United States, a federal prosecutor said at their afternoon arraignment.

Hours earlier, agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and deputy federal marshals raided the apartment and found more than 5,000 vials of liquid anabolic steroids prepared and ready for sale, 6 to 7 kilograms of powder steroids shipped from China, about 250 bottles of steroid tablets and 4 pounds of marijuana, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Edmonds said.

"This is a very serious long-term drug trafficking offense that Mr. Jack was a central part of for many years,'' Edmonds said.
He characterized the ring as relying on a "sophisticated network of financial schemes.'' SJ Motors' bank accounts, he said, were used to pay for foreign shipments of steroids, and money was deposited into the company's bank accounts from "ill-gotten gains from drug sales.''
"That company clearly has been involved in the criminal enterprise," Edmonds said.

Both Jack and Britt pleaded not guilty to a three-count federal indictment accusing each of conspiring to manufacture and deliver anabolic steroids, marijuana and *********, carrying a firearm during the commission of drug trafficking and international money laundering.
Their court-appointed federal public defender, Ruben L. Iñiguez, countered that SJ Motors is a legitimate car dealership. Both men have no criminal records and have longstanding ties to the community, he told the court.

Iñiguez successfully convinced Magistrate Judge Paul Papak to release Jack and Britt pending trial under a host of conditions, including drug testing and travel restrictions. They also were ordered not to have contact with one another, except for legitimate business purposes in the presence of their attorneys.

Jack and Britt appeared in court separately. Both broad-shouldered men, their large muscles bulged from tight, short-sleeved T-shirts they wore to the proceedings. Jack had on a Throwdown brand T-shirt.

Standing beside Jack in court, Iñiguez said, "This gentleman is not a felon ... he denies these allegations fully. He's a businessman, who submits taxes to the government for a legitimate business."

According to the indictment, investigators tracked at least 68 shipments of illegal steroids from China to multiple defendants between 2008 and August of this year. They also identified nearly 50 Western Union wire transfers of money to Chinese chemical companies to buy anabolic steroids.

Britt transferred $369, 875 from his Chase bank account to Chinese chemical companies to buy anabolic steroids between May 2009 and March of this year, the indictment said.

The defendants used false names and addresses to send packages of steroids through the U.S. mail from Portland to Las Vegas, Washington, California, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Idaho, North Carolina, Utah, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii and Alaska, the indictment alleged.

Among the places where federal agents served search warrants were Jack's home at 8116 S.E. Duke St. in Portland, Britt's home at 12523 S.E. Harold St. in Portland and Apartment 106 at the Happy Valley's Altamont Summit Luxury Apartments off Southeast Johnson Creek Boulevard.

At Jack's home, federal agents found a marijuana grow site and six firearms, including a rifle, shotgun and an AR-15 rifle under his bed, Edmonds said.

Police found ********* and *********** pills in Britt's home and a significant marijuana harvest on property he owns in Selma in Southern Oregon, Edmonds said. Investigators intercepted through wiretaps a phone call in which Britt spoke about conducting nighttime armed patrols of the marijuana grow, he said.

Jack and Britt's defense attorney argued that both men had concealed weapons permits and owned the firearms lawfully. Britt, Iñiguez noted, has a medical marijuana card.

Of the 16 defendants, 10 were arrested in Oregon, including Portland, Beaverton, Clackamas, Fairview and Tualatin. Among those are several competitive bodybuilders, including Britt, Brandon Lyons, whose website says he grew up in Gresham and most recently came in 6th place in a national competition, and Bradley Hollibaugh, whose website describes him as "one of bodybuilding's largest and strongest.''

Six others were arrested out of state, including in Vancouver and Seattle in Washington, Boston, California and North Carolina.

Lyons, who pleaded not guilty to conspirary to drug trafficking, was described in court as a recipient and re-distributor of the steroids. He's accused of trying to block agents from entering his home around 5 a.m. Thursday by bracing himself against his front door, Edmonds said. His defense attorney said Lyons simply had no idea who was trying to get in.

Accused James Longoria Jr., of Clackamas, is accused of marijuana distribution tied to Britt's Selma property in Oregon. Edmonds said Longoria is suspected of being involved in an ongoing criminal enterprise in southern Oregon and asked that he be restricted from traveling south of Marion County while he awaits trial. The judge granted the request.

A trial date was tentatively set for Jan. 14.