Jupiter wrestling booster pleads guilty in steroid sales, By: Antigone Barton
July 30, 2007
A prominent high school wrestling supporter and Jupiter anti-aging clinic director will help prosecutors investigating illegal steroid sales, as part of a plea deal reached Monday with New York prosecutors.
Joe Raich, who once hosted the 2004 U.S. Olympic wrestling freestyle team at his home, faced 28 charges stemming from the investigation of Palm Beach Rejuvenation. As a result of pleading guilty to one low-level felony and his agreement to cooperate, he likely will spend no time in prison.
Authorities said his clinic sold performance-enhancing drugs for $750 a "stack," without its out-of-of-state buyers ever seeing a doctor. A "stack" is a grouping of artificial hormones and hormone-suppressing drugs taken in combination to counter undesired effects. Along with business partners George and Glen Stephanos, Raich, 44, pleaded not guilty when charges were filed less than two weeks ago.
Raich is one of more than 15 people charged in Florida and around the country as part of "Operation Which Doctor," a crackdown by the Albany District Attorney's office against clinics, pharmacies and physicians involved in online steroid sales to New York customers.
"In terms of Palm Beach Rejuvenation, he's now cooperating, and telling us that what went on there is in large part illegal," Albany Assistant District Attorney Chris Baynes said Monday. In addition, Raich will provide information about Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando-based business that sent steroids to other internet outlets, including one in Delray Beach, Baynes said.
"It's a nationwide problem. What we're going after is the idea of selling drugs on the internet," Baynes said. "There are investigations all over the country of similar operations." Palm Beach Rejuvenation was Signature's biggest customer, with the result that it got lower prices than other clinics and doctors' offices, according to Baynes. In turn, Palm Beach Rejuvenation was the biggest supplier to the Albany area of all those under investigation by authorities there, Baynes said.
The clinic offers laser hair removal, cellulite reduction and Botox along with other services, including growth hormones, which the clinic's Web site calls "a medically proven solution." Prosecutors' investigation of the clinic prompted scrutiny of the wrestling program at Jupiter Christian School, which Raich supported and where his two sons won state titles. After the Florida High School Athletic Association launched an investigation of the school's program, the school agreed to distance itself from Raich, pay a $7,500 fine and improve its drug-testing. Raich's involvement in wrestling programs continues a family tradition that began with his brother John, who won a state championship shortly before dying in a boating accident in 1983.
Raich faced a possible 8 to 25 years in prison if convicted, Baynes said Monday.
Instead, he will be on probation for five years and pay $200,000 in restitution to the Albany prosecutors office. The money will be distributed to drug treatment and prevention programs, Albany District Attorney spokeswoman Heather Streeter Orth said.
If he does not cooperate with investigators, Raich will face a four year jail sentence, Orth said.
