Alleged steroid smuggler pleads not guilty, By: Tristan Scott
The Missoula man accused of coordinating an international steroid smuggling ring pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday, while an investigation into a second suspect, the husband of a local police officer, is ongoing.
Jimmy Ray Jones, 59, who's suspected of masterminding the operation, was arrested last month after police discovered pills, white powder, syringes, glassware, vials and packing material at his home.
On Monday in Missoula District Court, Jones pleaded not guilty to criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute, criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and criminal possession of dangerous drugs, all felonies.
Jones faces a maximum penalty that could put him in prison for life.
He posted $150,000 bail shortly after his arrest and is currently released on the following conditions: Jones is to have no contact with Dana Fiscus, cannot possess weapons, must maintain weekly contact with his attorney and must remain in MissoulaCounty.
Fiscus, husband of Missoula Police Officer Camie Fiscus and Jones' stepson, is under investigation for shipping and packaging the drugs. Dana Fiscus is thought to have played a lesser role in the smuggling operation, but is suspected of sending anabolic steroids to a network of distributors in Wisconsin, according to court records.
“Narcotics officers have turned up e-mails between Jones and Fiscus, which represent steroid orders ... forwarded to Fiscus with directions to ship the quantities requested and pick up Western Union payments,” according to court records.
In late January, Detective Jason Huntsinger said investigators would soon recommend that county prosecutors file a felony charge of conspiracy to distribute dangerous drugs against Fiscus. However, Huntsinger hasn't yet made that recommendation because, he said, the U.S. attorney's office is now considering filing federal charges against both Jones and Fiscus.
Fiscus has not yet been arrested or charged with any crime, but the investigation into his alleged role is ongoing. Detectives are still searching through stacks of financial records and evidence seized from his home. Those records indicate a sophisticated operation that has lasted more than two years, Huntsinger said, adding that Fiscus seems to have played more of a support role in the operation.
Missoula Police Chief Rusty Wickman and Deputy County Attorney Andrew Paul both said nothing so far indicates that Officer Camie Fiscus was involved in the steroid operation. However, Wickman is waiting for detectives to conclude their investigation before making any personnel decisions.
“I have not received any information that implicates Ms. Fiscus,” Paul wrote in an e-mail.
On Monday, Jones' attorney, Lance Jasper, filed a motion for discovery that, if granted, would compel prosecutors to disclose their evidence against Jones.
“They say they've got all this evidence and documentation, so we want to see it,” Jasper said Thursday.
The motion will be addressed at a hearing scheduled for Feb. 26 at
Wisconsin authorities traced the operation to Missoula during a six-month investigation that turned up almost $140,000 worth of anabolic steroids, which are popularly used by body builders. After arresting a 20-year-old Marshfield, Wis., man who sold steroids to an undercover officer, Marshfield police traced the drugs to a private box on Reserve Street in Missoula.
All of the steroids seized are considered controlled substances and constitute Schedule 3 drugs, which can be obtained by prescription only.
Court documents allege that Jones received shipments of anabolic steroid powder from China, then mixed the drugs at his home and shipped the orders to drug dealers across the United States.
Huntsinger, who works with Missoula's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, said the mailbox used to receive drug payments was rented in Dana Fiscus' name, and court records show that Fiscus may have received more than $56,000 in drug money during the past year. Huntsinger said that although Fiscus is thought to have played “a support role in the operation,” the amount represents only what investigators had uncovered when the initial charges were filed. Huntsinger said he suspects that much higher amounts of money were exchanged between Jones and Fiscus.
“It's definitely on the low end of the scale,” Huntsinger said.
In May 2006, police searched Jones' home as part of a separate steroid-distribution investigation that did not yield charges. Fiscus told police that following the May search at Jones' residence, he stopped his involvement because he got scared, according to records.
However, the owner of PostNet on Reserve Street, where Jones and Fiscus maintained the post office box, told police she saw Fiscus retrieve a package in January.
“This is contrary to Fiscus' statement ... and causes concern about the other information he provided,” court records state.
The investigation is being conducted by the Missoula Police Department, Missoula County Sheriff's Department and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, all members of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force.
