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Body builder sentenced for distributing phony human growth hormone
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 20, 2004
A professional body builder who illegally distributed fake human growth hormones he bought from a San Diego-based ring was sentenced to five months in federal prison and five months of house arrest last week.
Dave "Jumbo" Palumbo of Long Island, N.Y., is the highest profile defendant targeted by the breakup of the ring in which four other men, including a father and son from National City, have pleaded guilty.
Palumbo pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court in October to illegally selling 90 boxes of the fake hormone for about $63,000.
His lawyer argued in court Friday that the weightlifter and editor of RxMuscle magazine thought he was dealing with the real thing and injected some of the concoction himself.
Prosecutor Melanie Pierson responded that Palumbo appeared on national television as an expert on counterfeit hormone.
He should have picked up on differences in the labels of the real and fake versions of Serostim, a hormone approved for use by underweight AIDS patients, she said.
The fake Serostim was made by an Oregon company for Ronald Nollett Sr. and Roland Nollett Jr. of National City, who poured them into vials and packaged them to look like the real thing.
In more than 10 years, they produced more than 6,000 vials of the concoction, which did not include the active ingredient in Serostim. An FDA test of seized vials found mold in a highly acidic solution.
They were caught after a Spring Valley printer tried to collect money from the Swiss company that actually makes the drug when a check for the fake drug's packaging bounced.
In court, Palumbo was contrite.
"I've embarrassed myself," he said. "I think of myself as a role model in society. ... Now I know who I truly am."
But outside the courtroom, his lawyers prevented him from saying whether he'd sworn off the use of drugs that stimulate muscle growth.
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 20, 2004
A professional body builder who illegally distributed fake human growth hormones he bought from a San Diego-based ring was sentenced to five months in federal prison and five months of house arrest last week.
Dave "Jumbo" Palumbo of Long Island, N.Y., is the highest profile defendant targeted by the breakup of the ring in which four other men, including a father and son from National City, have pleaded guilty.
Palumbo pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court in October to illegally selling 90 boxes of the fake hormone for about $63,000.
His lawyer argued in court Friday that the weightlifter and editor of RxMuscle magazine thought he was dealing with the real thing and injected some of the concoction himself.
Prosecutor Melanie Pierson responded that Palumbo appeared on national television as an expert on counterfeit hormone.
He should have picked up on differences in the labels of the real and fake versions of Serostim, a hormone approved for use by underweight AIDS patients, she said.
The fake Serostim was made by an Oregon company for Ronald Nollett Sr. and Roland Nollett Jr. of National City, who poured them into vials and packaged them to look like the real thing.
In more than 10 years, they produced more than 6,000 vials of the concoction, which did not include the active ingredient in Serostim. An FDA test of seized vials found mold in a highly acidic solution.
They were caught after a Spring Valley printer tried to collect money from the Swiss company that actually makes the drug when a check for the fake drug's packaging bounced.
In court, Palumbo was contrite.
"I've embarrassed myself," he said. "I think of myself as a role model in society. ... Now I know who I truly am."
But outside the courtroom, his lawyers prevented him from saying whether he'd sworn off the use of drugs that stimulate muscle growth.