On the day an off-duty Stockton police officer was arrested for suspected trafficking in controlled steroids, he met twice, in parking lots in Tracy and Lathrop, with a Brentwood man along with whom he has been charged, according to a search warrant affidavit.
The officer, 27-year-old Darrin Fagundes, was under surveillance by Stockton Police Department vice detectives, who reported that at the second meeting, in the parking lot of Lathrop's Target, Fagundes emerged from a Ford Mustang owned by Anthony Scott Kubena carrying a "light-colored cylindrical object." He climbed back into his vehicle, a black 2006 Hummer, and was detained by police before he left.
In the cylinder, according to the affidavit, were two clear plastic bags, each containing four clear glass vials with red caps. The vials were separately labeled testosterone and nandrolone decanoate, steroids used together and with other steroids to achieve rapid muscle growth. Both are controlled substances in the United States, requiring prescriptions from physicians.
That was Jan. 13, and Fagundes and Kubena, 38, had already been under surveillance for at least one month. They were seen on Dec. 28 meeting outside Delta Valley Athletic Club in Brentwood for what detectives believed was a drug transaction. The detectives obtained a search warrant for Kubena's Brentwood home on Jan. 7 and were following him on Jan. 13 with the intention of serving it when they saw him meet Fagundes first in Tracy, about 2 p.m. in a parking lot on Naglee Road, and then in Lathrop about 3:28 p.m.
After the arrests, the detectives obtained a search warrant for Fagundes' Tracy home, where they seized firearms, ammunition, computers, a cell phone and a Stockton Police Department badge.
Fagundes, a Stockton police officer since 2007, has been on paid administrative leave since his arrest, while both internal and criminal investigations proceed.
Deputy District Attorney Todd Turner, who is prosecuting the case, said both Fagundes and Kubena, who has worked as a bouncer at a Stockton club, have been charged not only with possession of illegal steroids for personal use, but also with selling them to others.
Turner said he would not say how the investigation started, who was its original focus, how it led to Fagundes or when it started, saying it was too early in the investigation to comment. He also would not say whether other Stockton police officers might be implicated.
"I can't comment on that," he said.
Chief Blair Ulring also declined to comment, saying through a spokesman that it would be premature to do so, given the early stage of investigation.
The steroids Fagundes allegedly had in his possession are both found naturally in the human body and have medical uses. According to the National Institutes of Health, nandrolone decanoate, known colloquially as "deca," is used to treat anemia from renal failure. Its side effects in men can include erectile dysfunction, abnormal growth of breast tissue and testicular atrophy. In women, among other effects, it can cause baldness, deepen the voice and induce the growth of terminal body hair where it usually grows only on men. Many side effects of testosterone overlap with those of nandrolone decanoate.
Reached by phone, Fagundes declined to comment.
His attorney could not be reached for comment.
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