That rented, nondescript, 10-by-15 room in an office complex along Reed Hartman Highway housed a bank of 18 lockers - the secret center of a far-reaching anabolic steroid network running from Ohio to Tennessee and, ultimately, to China.
"Everything went through the mail," said John Burke, commander of the Warren County Drug Task Force.
The task force is among 11 agencies involved in "Operation Bulk-Up," an ongoing probe that began with a tip from the Lebanon YMCA in January 2010 and so far has produced indictments against 33 people, including one man who is deceased. The suspects came from six Ohio counties plus Tennessee.
On Wednesday, authorities revealed more details about the investigation and the 32 living suspects who are facing a total of 248 felony charges.
Two of the suspects are not affiliated with the Cincinnati-area network but were caught in the investigation, police said. One is a Miamisburg man who is accused of running his own steroid lab; another is a Wilmington man who allegedly got his supply from Florida.
About half of the suspects appeared Wednesday for bond hearings in Warren County Common Pleas Court. While some were released on their promise to show up for court, those alleged to be among the higher-ranking players of the group had bond set at $10,000 apiece.
Many of the suspects were otherwise law-abiding people, college-educated, with good jobs. One was the manager of an Oxford bank; another, a heavy-equipment salesman who pulled down a six-figure salary, police said.
Then there was Kris Sheid, 32, of Hamilton. Police say his huge physique - about 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing around 300 pounds at one point - was propelling him toward potentially big money as an up-and-coming professional wrestler. His stage name is "Chris Carnage," according to PWInsider.com.
Others held no job other than the steroid network. Some were young men in their 20s who still live with their parents.
Police say, though, that the suspects in general had one thing in common: They couldn't resist the lure of easy money and seemingly magical substances that helped people to grow big, impressive, muscles - fast. Those factors seemed to overshadow the potential legal ramifications for sellers and the health risks for users, investigators said.
Most of the indicted suspects were using steroids or had done so in the past, Burke said. None of the three female suspects were believed to have been users, he said.
Authorities aren't sure how many customers the network was serving, partly because the investigation is ongoing. But the man they call the "kingpin," Ronald Herbort, 45, of Amelia, had a far-reaching clientele, police say.
Burke said investigators found evidence suggesting Herbort may have been involved with steroids since 1998, when he was living in the Symmes Township area. Herbort connected via the Internet with customers in distant places, police said.
The Tennessee lab was supplying steroid buyers in other states but named Herbort as its biggest customer, police said. Federal authorities are still investigating the reach of the Tennessee lab.
Burke said the lab imported steroid powder from China, mixed it with olive oil and packaged it in vials for distribution. Each vial cost about $25 to make; customers were charged $85 to $125 per vial.
After investigators began watching Herbort's movements closely, police say they saw a daily routine: On lunch breaks from his job as a receptionist at a Springdale dentist's office, he'd go to a post office and mail about a dozen steroid-stuffed packages to destinations across the nation.
Herbort's alleged No. 2 man, Matthew Geraci, 37, of Sycamore Township, fielded "orders" for steroids via text message, Burke said, and then stocked the supply in one of Suite F's 18 lockers, each assigned to a distributor-customer.
Locker-holders would pick up the steroid supply, replace it with payment, re-lock the locker and alert Geraci via text.
Herbort was "the sole supplier" to Geraci, officials said.
Many of the players knew each other only by first names or nicknames, such as "J-Dog" for Jason Sherrill of Tennessee or "Ronas" for Herbort. The anonymity of the group was one strategy that helped members avoid being caught, Burke said.
Near Suite F was Room 331, Suite C, which acted as a "stash house," concealing thousands of doses of the muscle-pumping pills and injectable vials. Only three people - Herbort, Geraci and his fiancée, Jessica Howard, 27, who also was charged - had access to the stash, police said.
All the suspects cooperated after investigators confronted them with the evidence, Burke said.
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