February 2, 2010
COLORADO SPRINGS PHARMACIST CONVICTED OF CHARGES RELATED TO IMPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANABOLIC STEROIDS AND CHINESE-MADE HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES
DENVER – Thomas Bader, a licensed pharmacist and former owner and operator of College Pharmacy in Colorado Springs, was convicted in federal court in Denver today on thirty-one counts related to the importation and distribution of ana- bolic steroids and Chinese-manufactured human growth hormone, United States Attorney David M. Gaouette announced.
The trial began on January 4, 2010, and concluded this afternoon after a jury deliberated for parts of three days.
The evidence presented at the trial established that Bader used College Pharmacy to received human growth hormone that had been smuggled into the United States from China and to distribute the hormone as well as testosterone, an anabolic steroid, to customers around the country. The evidence established that the testos- terone often went to bodybuilders who had no legitimate relationship with physicians.
The jury found Bader guilty of two counts of conspiracy. One of those counts charged that Bader and others conspired to facilitate the sale of the Chinese-made human growth hormone, which was misbranded and not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, knowing it had been imported into the United States in violation of law. The other conspiracy count charged that Bader engaged in a conspiracy to man-ufacture, distribute, dispense and possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids.
The jury convicted Bader on twenty-seven counts of distribution of human growth hormones, including twenty-three counts that charged the human growth hor- mone went to minors. The jury also found Bader guilty of one count of facilitating the sale of smuggled human growth hormone and one count of possessing with intent to distribute human growth hormone. Bader was found not guilty of a charge of receiving smuggled goods.
In addition, the jury found that assets, including $4,800,000 and the land where the pharmacy was located at 3505 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, should be forfeited to the United States.
After the verdicts were returned, U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger increased Bader’s bond and scheduled a sentencing hearing to be held on April 29, 2010, at 1:00 p.m.
This case was investigated by the Office of Criminal Investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, and it was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jaime Peña and Gregory Rhodes. Peña is the health care fraud coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Rhodes is the deputy chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
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