A former agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Blaine was sentenced Monday morning to two years of probation for importing steroids from China.
Sean Patrick Ganley, 38, of Federal Way, pleaded guilty in June. He was also a former Tacoma police officer.
Ganley faced up to 10 years in prison. The sentence was part of a plea agreement between the prosecution and defense. U.S. District County Judge James L. Robart was unhappy with the agreement, saying he didn't think it sent a strong enough message.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice defended the plea agreement. "It's a felony conviction. It required his resignation from ICE and the presumed banishment from law enforcement jobs," he said.
The investigation began in April 2008 by the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations after customs agents at JFK International Airport in New York discovered human-growth hormone in a package arriving by mail from Beijing. The investigation revealed that Ganley had "surreptitiously sent three wire transfers to China and ordered the steroids using a false telephone number and fictitious address," according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"We expect the utmost honesty and integrity of our federal law-enforcement officers," James McDevitt, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane, said in June. "It will not be tolerated when they break the very laws they are sworn to uphold."
McDevitt's office handled the case to avoid a potential conflict of interest because Ganley had worked with federal prosecutors in Seattle.
Ganley resigned from ICE earlier this year.
In a letter delivered to Judge Robart before Monday's sentencing, Ganley wrote that he thought getting himself into peak physical shape would keep him safe while working as a cop in Tacoma, which he called "the most violent city in the Pacific Northwest."
"Steroid use was very common within my own police department, as well as neighboring police agencies, so I again mistakenly felt it was 'no big deal' to use them," Ganley wrote.
A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent caught importing steroids into the country won't serve any prison time.
Federal Way resident Sean Patrick Ganley was still with ICE in April 2008 when customs inspectors found he was buying Chinese steroids, according to a Justice Department statement issued Monday.
In a plea agreement, an assistant U.S. attorney handling the case noted that Ganley began importing steroids in 2004 while he was employed as a Tacoma police officer. Ganley continued buying steroids after he went to work for ICE as a special agent, a position he resigned from earlier this year.
According to court documents, Ganley had the steroids -- chiefly human growth hormone -- sent to the Chehalis home of a friend. He also used a false name on money orders in an effort to avoid detection.
On Monday, Ganley was sentenced to a two-year term on probation. Federal prosecutors had agreed to request such a sentence.
Announcing the sentence, Michael Ormsby, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, noted that "federal law enforcement officers are held to the highest standards of integrity and honesty."
Ormsby went on to contend Ganley's sentence "will vindicate the federal interest" by insuring Ganley no longer works as a law officer.
In a letter to the court, Ganley, 38, expressed regret that his 15-year career in law enforcement was at an end.
Ganley told the court he began taking steroids while employed at the Tacoma Police Department after a King County deputy sheriff and Federal Way police officer were killed.
"Steroid use was very common within my own police department, as well as neighboring agencies, so I again mistakenly felt it was 'no big deal' to use them," Ganley said in a letter to the court. "I was obviously sorely mistaken."
Ganley had previously pleaded guilty to importing a controlled substance. He was jailed briefly after charges were filed, but has since been released.
After he was beaten up while working as a cop in Tacoma, Sean Patrick Ganley searched the Internet for something to help him feel better and quickly get back on his feet again.
Ganley says he found the answer in an online advertisement for steroids from China with precise steps for U.S. residents to order the illegal drug. He started taking steroids, which he claimed was quite common among fellow law enforcement officers, and continued even after being hired as an agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Blaine.
On Monday, Ganley, 38, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two years of probation for importing human-growth hormone from China.
"I made a big mistake, there's no sugarcoating it," Ganley said in court. "I felt that was what I could do to increase my strength. I wish I would have never done it."
U.S. District Court Judge James L. Robart criticized the sentence recommended for Ganley for failing to send a sufficiently strong message to other police officers who might be taking illegal steroids. The judge said he followed the sentence because it was agreed upon by the prosecution, probation officials and the defense
Tom Rice, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said that Ganley not only pleaded guilty, but also resigned from his job with ICE and will be "banished from other law enforcement jobs" because of his felony conviction.
Ganley retired from ICE earlier this year.
John Crowley, Ganley's attorney, said he has since moved to the Tri-Cities to live with his father, a retired police officer. The father and son are starting a private security company, Crowley said.
Had Ganley not pleaded guilty, he would have faced up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The investigation into Ganley began in April 2008 by the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations after customs agents at JFK International Airport in New York discovered human-growth hormone in a package arriving by mail from Beijing. The investigation revealed that Ganley had "surreptitiously sent three wire transfers to China and ordered the steroids using a false telephone number and fictitious address," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In a letter delivered to Judge Robart before his sentencing, Ganley wrote that he believed steroids would allow him to get into peak physical shape and keep him safe while working in Tacoma, which he called "the most violent city in the Pacific Northwest."
"Steroid use was very common within my own police department, as well as neighboring police agencies, so I again mistakenly felt it was 'no big deal' to use them," Ganley wrote.
The prosecution of Ganley was handled by the U.S. Attorneys Office for Eastern Washington to avoid a potential conflict of interest because Ganley had worked with federal prosecutors in the Seattle-based Western District of Washington.
Management eat their own Cops again just because they want to get in shape to survive on the street...Assholes....
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