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- Mar 30, 2011
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May 18, 2011
Musclebear, a very well-liked international steroid source has recently been busted and is now facing extradition to the United States. The extradition order comes as a result of the arrests and guilty pleas of Paul G. Matthews from the Pittsburgh area, and Ronald J. Sales from the St. Louis area. Both men had done business with ‘bear, although not necessarily with each other, and Matthews had also been running a traditional underground lab from his home, complete with ordering powder from China and converting it into usable form at his house (which will likely be forfeit as a result of being used in the commission of a felony).
It seems that both men were arrested last February, although the indictment was only made public recently – most likely because federal agents have spent the past year + gathering emails with the help of Canadian law enforcement. I have no idea what this has to do with Canada, per se, only that MuscleBear was far more popular on Canadian message boards than American ones. But if you’ve been in contact with MuscleBear over the past couple years, you might have some problems on the way…
I had vaguely spoken to MuscleBear a couple of times many years ago, and he seemed to be a pretty decent guy; not flashy, no ego, very professional just a guy operating an online business. In this case, the business happened to be illegal, but in my very brief interaction with him, his demeanor and attitude was no different than you’d expect from speaking to someone from Amazon.com or whatever.
And of course, this all started as a result of a confidential informant giving a tip to the Feds, who converted the tip into a couple of arrests here in America, and a couple in the Ukraine. Naturally, the people supplying the raw steroid powder to Matthews, from China, have not been arrested and will neither be arrested nor stopped from selling the same powders to other clients in the United States.
I’d like to invite all of my readers to now Google the following word: Musclebear
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Federal prosecutors landed two guilty pleas Tuesday in what was characterized in court as a multi-agency effort to take down “a large international conspiracy” to peddle anabolic steroids and other illegal muscle-building drugs.
Pleading guilty, and now facing September sentencings, were Paul G. Matthews, 51, of the Pittsburgh area, and Ronald J. Sales, 46, of the St. Louis area. Prosecutors would not provide more detailed information on their residences.
Mr. Matthews ran Matthews Training Concepts and was caught running a steroid manufacturing facility in his home.
Although there was no testimony at hearings Tuesday to any direct business links between Mr. Matthews and Mr. Sales, both were accused of conspiracy to distribute 40,000 units of steroids in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and of paying for them by sending money to Ukraine and China.
At Mr. Matthews’ guilty plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton said that he was doing business with two Ukrainian men, later identified as Oleksandr “Musclebear” Skochyk and Yeveniy Suray.
The two Ukrainians were indicted by a Pittsburgh-based federal grand jury a year ago for distributing illegal, Chinese-made steroids and synthetic testosterone. Arrest warrants were issued, and Ms. Houghton said the men are being extradited.
She said that if Mr. Matthews had not pleaded guilty, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Postal Service, among others, would have testified at his trial.
She described how a confidential source tipped agents off to Mr. Matthews’ steroid lab, leading to three undercover buys. Packages of steroids from China, addressed to him, were seized at Los Angeles International Airport. A Feb. 10, 2010, raid on Mr. Matthews’ home revealed that he was buying raw steroid powder and manufacturing individual doses, which were sold illegally and without warning labels.
Investigators then got search warrants for participants’ email accounts, and with help from Canadian law enforcement obtained hundreds of emails between the Ukrainians and their customers, Ms. Houghton said.
Downtown attorney William C. Kaczynski, representing Mr. Suray, declined comment. Mr. Skochyk has no attorney listed in court records.
Mr. Matthews and Mr. Sales could face as much as 20 years in prison, but their actual sentences are likely to be lighter because the prosecution has confirmed that they have accepted responsibility for their crimes. Mr. Sales has a prior drug conviction, which might lengthen his sentence.
Musclebear, a very well-liked international steroid source has recently been busted and is now facing extradition to the United States. The extradition order comes as a result of the arrests and guilty pleas of Paul G. Matthews from the Pittsburgh area, and Ronald J. Sales from the St. Louis area. Both men had done business with ‘bear, although not necessarily with each other, and Matthews had also been running a traditional underground lab from his home, complete with ordering powder from China and converting it into usable form at his house (which will likely be forfeit as a result of being used in the commission of a felony).
It seems that both men were arrested last February, although the indictment was only made public recently – most likely because federal agents have spent the past year + gathering emails with the help of Canadian law enforcement. I have no idea what this has to do with Canada, per se, only that MuscleBear was far more popular on Canadian message boards than American ones. But if you’ve been in contact with MuscleBear over the past couple years, you might have some problems on the way…
I had vaguely spoken to MuscleBear a couple of times many years ago, and he seemed to be a pretty decent guy; not flashy, no ego, very professional just a guy operating an online business. In this case, the business happened to be illegal, but in my very brief interaction with him, his demeanor and attitude was no different than you’d expect from speaking to someone from Amazon.com or whatever.
And of course, this all started as a result of a confidential informant giving a tip to the Feds, who converted the tip into a couple of arrests here in America, and a couple in the Ukraine. Naturally, the people supplying the raw steroid powder to Matthews, from China, have not been arrested and will neither be arrested nor stopped from selling the same powders to other clients in the United States.
I’d like to invite all of my readers to now Google the following word: Musclebear
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Federal prosecutors landed two guilty pleas Tuesday in what was characterized in court as a multi-agency effort to take down “a large international conspiracy” to peddle anabolic steroids and other illegal muscle-building drugs.
Pleading guilty, and now facing September sentencings, were Paul G. Matthews, 51, of the Pittsburgh area, and Ronald J. Sales, 46, of the St. Louis area. Prosecutors would not provide more detailed information on their residences.
Mr. Matthews ran Matthews Training Concepts and was caught running a steroid manufacturing facility in his home.
Although there was no testimony at hearings Tuesday to any direct business links between Mr. Matthews and Mr. Sales, both were accused of conspiracy to distribute 40,000 units of steroids in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and of paying for them by sending money to Ukraine and China.
At Mr. Matthews’ guilty plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary McKeen Houghton said that he was doing business with two Ukrainian men, later identified as Oleksandr “Musclebear” Skochyk and Yeveniy Suray.
The two Ukrainians were indicted by a Pittsburgh-based federal grand jury a year ago for distributing illegal, Chinese-made steroids and synthetic testosterone. Arrest warrants were issued, and Ms. Houghton said the men are being extradited.
She said that if Mr. Matthews had not pleaded guilty, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Postal Service, among others, would have testified at his trial.
She described how a confidential source tipped agents off to Mr. Matthews’ steroid lab, leading to three undercover buys. Packages of steroids from China, addressed to him, were seized at Los Angeles International Airport. A Feb. 10, 2010, raid on Mr. Matthews’ home revealed that he was buying raw steroid powder and manufacturing individual doses, which were sold illegally and without warning labels.
Investigators then got search warrants for participants’ email accounts, and with help from Canadian law enforcement obtained hundreds of emails between the Ukrainians and their customers, Ms. Houghton said.
Downtown attorney William C. Kaczynski, representing Mr. Suray, declined comment. Mr. Skochyk has no attorney listed in court records.
Mr. Matthews and Mr. Sales could face as much as 20 years in prison, but their actual sentences are likely to be lighter because the prosecution has confirmed that they have accepted responsibility for their crimes. Mr. Sales has a prior drug conviction, which might lengthen his sentence.
