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Associated Press

June 2, 2008

Federal authorities say a Florida man has been sentenced to six months in prison for distributing anabolic steroids over the Internet.

Prosecutors say 30-year-old Brian Tompkins, of Deltona, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Hartford. Tompkins pleaded guilty to the offense last September.

Authorities say from September 2006 to July 2007, Tompkins distributed anabolic steroids by mail to individuals who contacted him through his MySpace.com profile. Tomkins has admitted that in July 2007 he bought two kilograms of steroid powder from a supplier in China.

The case stemmed from Operation Phony Pharm, an investigation headed by the FBI's Healthcare Fraud Unit in Connecticut that targeted Web sites and individuals selling pharmaceuticals over the Internet without a doctor's consultation or a legitimate written prescription.