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Monroe County doctor, 2 others charged in steroids conspiracy
MOBILE, Alabama ? Three men accused of selling steroids pleaded not guilty this afternoon to federal drug charges.
According to an FBI affidavit that lays out the allegations, Dr. Mark Peter Koch bought anabolic steroids from a satellite technician from north Alabama from August 2005 until June of this year and then sold them to 2 Monroe County men.
Those are Frisco City resident Bennie Joe Wiggins, who pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and attempted possession with intent to distribute steroids, and Monroeville resident Terry Duwayne Faulk, who was charged in a separate action with concealing information about steroids.
Faulk has waived arraignment, and prosecutors have agreed to recommend a pretrial diversion program that would offer the chance for the charge to be dismissed.
FBI agents on June 28 seized about 38 grams of steroids from Koch, who is accused of both using and selling the performance-enhancing drugs. The affidavit alleges that an informant saw or participated in at least 8 steroids purchases involving Koch. Investigators estimated the total amount of steroids purchased by Koch at more than 300 grams.
Koch transported the drugs in a portable safe that he stored in the Monroe town of Excel, according to the criminal complaint.
Dennis Knizley, an attorney for Wiggins, said this morning that he will not get to review the evidence against his client until after this afternoon?s arraignment.
?So, I don?t know the details of it,? he said. ?But I understand that the allegations are that the doctor was buying steroids outside the conventional pharmaceutical business.?
Knizley said his client is a 16-year employee of Monroeville Hospital with no criminal record. He said he has seen no evidence so far that his client was selling steroids.
?We plead not guilty and certainly, we deny those allegations,? he said. ?I don?t know where they?re going to get the distribution from.?
Knizley said that Wiggins was a patient of Koch.
The FBI affidavit states that investigators recorded Koch discussing a pending purchase from the satellite technician, later identified as Ashley Dewayne Rivers, who lives in the Morgan County town of Lacey Spring. The doctor discussed the amount of money that Faulk and Wiggins owed him for the drugs, according to the affidavit.
The recording also shows the doctor injecting someone with steroids, according to the affidavit.
Faulk?s attorney, Neil Hanley, said his client had prescriptions from the Koch for low testosterone. He said there is no evidence Faulk sold any of the steroids.
?Not only that, he was tested on 3 occasions,? Hanley said.
Attorneys for Rivers and Koch could not be reached for comment.
Court documents describe Koch as having no permanent address and frequently renting different motel rooms in Excel. But a woman in Andalusia agreed to let Koch stay with her and certified to the court that she would serve as a third-party custodian.
Knizley said that Koch may not have had a permanent address because he was going through a divorce. Koch?s estranged wife, Knizley said, figures to be a key prosecution witness in the case.
Court records suggest that the FBI began investigating after getting a tip from the informant, who claimed to have delivered steroids for Koch.
According to the affidavit, Faulk gave the courier ? identified in court documents as a ?confidential human source? ? $1,060 on June 24 to purchase steroids. On that same date, Wiggins gave the courier $400, according to the criminal complaint.
On a recorded phone call 4 days later, according to the complaint, Koch discussed with the courier his preferred method of transporting and storing the drugs bought from Rivers.
The drugs included Primobolan Depot, an injectable from of steroids that Sports Illustrated reported baseball star Alex Rodriguez tested positive for in 2003. The other steroid was testosterone cypionate, another injectable drug. The complaint also lists Viagra.
The courier handed over $2,000 to Rivers, according to the affidavit.
The drugs sold by Rivers were labeled ?Roper?s Labs, Memphis, Tennessee,? according to the affidavit, which describes the operation as an ?underground lab.?
The defendants face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted, although Knizley predicted that punishment under advisory sentencing guidelines would be ?extremely low? for his client.
MOBILE, Alabama ? Three men accused of selling steroids pleaded not guilty this afternoon to federal drug charges.
According to an FBI affidavit that lays out the allegations, Dr. Mark Peter Koch bought anabolic steroids from a satellite technician from north Alabama from August 2005 until June of this year and then sold them to 2 Monroe County men.
Those are Frisco City resident Bennie Joe Wiggins, who pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and attempted possession with intent to distribute steroids, and Monroeville resident Terry Duwayne Faulk, who was charged in a separate action with concealing information about steroids.
Faulk has waived arraignment, and prosecutors have agreed to recommend a pretrial diversion program that would offer the chance for the charge to be dismissed.
FBI agents on June 28 seized about 38 grams of steroids from Koch, who is accused of both using and selling the performance-enhancing drugs. The affidavit alleges that an informant saw or participated in at least 8 steroids purchases involving Koch. Investigators estimated the total amount of steroids purchased by Koch at more than 300 grams.
Koch transported the drugs in a portable safe that he stored in the Monroe town of Excel, according to the criminal complaint.
Dennis Knizley, an attorney for Wiggins, said this morning that he will not get to review the evidence against his client until after this afternoon?s arraignment.
?So, I don?t know the details of it,? he said. ?But I understand that the allegations are that the doctor was buying steroids outside the conventional pharmaceutical business.?
Knizley said his client is a 16-year employee of Monroeville Hospital with no criminal record. He said he has seen no evidence so far that his client was selling steroids.
?We plead not guilty and certainly, we deny those allegations,? he said. ?I don?t know where they?re going to get the distribution from.?
Knizley said that Wiggins was a patient of Koch.
The FBI affidavit states that investigators recorded Koch discussing a pending purchase from the satellite technician, later identified as Ashley Dewayne Rivers, who lives in the Morgan County town of Lacey Spring. The doctor discussed the amount of money that Faulk and Wiggins owed him for the drugs, according to the affidavit.
The recording also shows the doctor injecting someone with steroids, according to the affidavit.
Faulk?s attorney, Neil Hanley, said his client had prescriptions from the Koch for low testosterone. He said there is no evidence Faulk sold any of the steroids.
?Not only that, he was tested on 3 occasions,? Hanley said.
Attorneys for Rivers and Koch could not be reached for comment.
Court documents describe Koch as having no permanent address and frequently renting different motel rooms in Excel. But a woman in Andalusia agreed to let Koch stay with her and certified to the court that she would serve as a third-party custodian.
Knizley said that Koch may not have had a permanent address because he was going through a divorce. Koch?s estranged wife, Knizley said, figures to be a key prosecution witness in the case.
Court records suggest that the FBI began investigating after getting a tip from the informant, who claimed to have delivered steroids for Koch.
According to the affidavit, Faulk gave the courier ? identified in court documents as a ?confidential human source? ? $1,060 on June 24 to purchase steroids. On that same date, Wiggins gave the courier $400, according to the criminal complaint.
On a recorded phone call 4 days later, according to the complaint, Koch discussed with the courier his preferred method of transporting and storing the drugs bought from Rivers.
The drugs included Primobolan Depot, an injectable from of steroids that Sports Illustrated reported baseball star Alex Rodriguez tested positive for in 2003. The other steroid was testosterone cypionate, another injectable drug. The complaint also lists Viagra.
The courier handed over $2,000 to Rivers, according to the affidavit.
The drugs sold by Rivers were labeled ?Roper?s Labs, Memphis, Tennessee,? according to the affidavit, which describes the operation as an ?underground lab.?
The defendants face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted, although Knizley predicted that punishment under advisory sentencing guidelines would be ?extremely low? for his client.
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