Unfazed after pleading guilty to steroid charges in New York in 2008, an ex-Boca Raton police officer continued peddling the illegal supplements through companies in Florida and Missouri, according to records and federal prosecutors.
In a 20-count sealed indictment, a federal grand jury charged Anthony Forgione, 45, of Boca Raton, his alleged business partner, Scott Lofquist, 50, of Overland Park, Kan., and Dr. Rodney Baltazar, 47, a Delaware physician, with selling human growth hormone and steroids.
Baltazar on Wednesday traveled to West Palm Beach to surrender in U.S. District Court. Lofquist was arrested in Kansas on March 30, the day the indictment was unsealed. Court records didn't indicate whether Forgione had turned himself in. He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.
According to the indictment, Forgione sold 20 shipments of testosterone, oxandrolone and other steroids between January 2006 and August 2009, teaming with Lofquist and Baltazar to make the last five transactions.
The trio allegedly made those deals after Forgione pleaded guilty to felony drug-selling charges in Albany, and got five years' probation in return.
Standing before a judge in September 2008, Forgione said he broke the law with Dr. Gary Brandwein, an ex-doctor from Boca Raton who sent steroids to rap stars and athletes. One of his clients was Chris Benoit, the former professional wrestler who strangled his family in Georgia before hanging himself in 2007. Brandwein pleaded guilty to New York drug charges in March 2008.
In Florida, Forgione dissolved the company targeted by New York investigators, Infinity Longevity, in July 2008. In May 2009, he created a new company by the same name, state records show. He listed the purpose of the company as "consulting."
As owner of Infinity Longevity, Forgione arranged to sell steroids through a company owned by Lofquist, a former NCAA athlete and hypnotist, and aided by Baltazar, the indictment stated.
A Web site for Lofquist's company, Lifetime Wellness LLC, exhorts the benefits of human growth hormone and encourages people to call a Kansas City phone number for a free consultation.
In court Wednesday, Baltazar claimed he was indigent and requested the services of the federal public defender's office, but Magistrate Judge Linnea R. Johnson, who would order him released on a personal surety bond, wasn't convinced.
She quizzed him on the value of his Porsche 911 and Cadillac Escalade and then recommended he sell the sports car to pay for a lawyer.
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