WWE officials meet with NY prosecutors

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By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 16, 4:13 PM ET



ALBANY, N.Y. - Officials from World Wrestling Entertainment met this week with New York prosecutors investigating illegal steroid sales.

WWE Vice President Jennifer McIntosh confirmed the Tuesday meeting but declined to comment on what was discussed. Calls to Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares' office were not immediately returned Thursday.

The day before the meeting, former pro wrestler Brian "Crush" Adams, 44, was found dead of undetermined causes in his Florida home. Authorities said tissue and toxicology tests are due in six to eight weeks.

Adams had not been a wrestler for WWE since 2001, McIntosh said. His death came less than two months after pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son before hanging himself on the cable of a weight machine in his Georgia home. Prescription anabolic steroids were found in the home, raising questions about whether the drugs played a role in the killings.

Soares' office has said Benoit had been a client of Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, Fla., which is at the center of the investigation.

Nine people, including three current or former physicians, have pleaded guilty, most affiliated with Internet and phone-order companies that filled orders for anabolic steroids and growth hormones through Signature and sent drugs to customers around the country, including Albany County.
Signature's owners have pleaded not guilty.

In New York, it is illegal 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.

National Football League officials met with Soares and other investigators in March. An NFL spokesman said they had asked the prosecutors' office for any information relevant to the league.

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Fort Worth Police Shut Down Steroid Ring

Updated: August 17th, 2007 12:20 PM PDT

Story by nbc5i.com (http://www.nbc5i.com/)



ARLINGTON, Texas --

Police said Thursday they have shut down a major drug operation that they said shipped anabolic steroids to people all over the country.

Undercover officers with Tarrant County's Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit have been investigating for months, NBC 5 reported. This week, they said they hit the jackpot.

Police said they arrested Steven Vaughn and his wife, Alice. Their four children, who range in age from 3 to 13 years old, were placed in foster care. Drug agents said they were analyzing seized computer files and have arrested others as far away as Michigan and California.

Police said a trailer home overlooking Lake Arlington was a laboratory for making anabolic steroids on a massive scale.

"As far as the manufacturing and how they manufactured it and the sophistication of the bottles and the labeling, it is one of the bigger ones that we've got here," said Herschel Tebay, the unit's commander.

The bottles sell for approximately $100 apiece, and authorities said the street value of the steroids confiscated was at least $500,000.

Investigators said the steroids were marketed over the Internet and sold to people all over the country.

In a raid on Monday, police also found guns and all of the tools of an amateur chemist.

Steroids have been in the news lately, with San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who recently set the all-time home run record, being clouded by controversy about whether he used steroids. Also, tests showed professional wrestler Chris Benoit had high levels of testosterone when he killed his wife, son and himself in the family's home near Atlanta.

"Heroin, cocaine and meth get the headlines," Tebay said. "But anabolic steroids have caused a lot of concern in the community."

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Prosecutors, WWE meet

Discussion with investigators in steroid probe wasn't linked to death of former pro wrestler, group says
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press
First published: Friday, August 17, 2007
ALBANY -- Officials from World Wrestling Entertainment met this week with New York prosecutors investigating illegal steroid sales.


The meeting Tuesday came a day after a former pro wrestler, Brian "Crush" Adams, 44, was found dead at his Tampa, Fla., home, but a WWE official said it had been previously scheduled.

World Wrestling Entertainment Vice President Jennifer McIntosh said Tuesday's meeting had nothing to do with Adams, that he had not been a wrestler for the sports entertainment company since 2001 and WWE has no knowledge of any involvement by Adams with Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, Fla. Signature is at the center of Albany County District Attorney David Soares' investigation into illegal steroid sales in upstate New York.
McIntosh declined to comment on what was discussed. Calls to Soares' office were not immediately returned Thursday.

Adams' death came less than two months after pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife, son and himself in his Georgia home. Prescription anabolic steroids were found in the family's home, raising questions about whether the drugs played a role in the killings.

Benoit had been a client of Signature Pharmacy, Soares' office has confirmed. Adams was also a Signature client, according to a law enforcement official who did not want to be named.

Nine people, including three current or former physicians, have pleaded guilty in Soares' multistate investigation, most affiliated with Internet and phone-order companies that filled orders for anabolic steroids and growth hormones through Signature and sent drugs to customers around the country, including Albany County. Signature's owners have pleaded not guilty.