Remnants of Collin steroid case linger, By: Tiara M. Ellis
Charges against man were dropped; ex-wife still faces drug counts
May 12, 2007
Plans to take down a Collin County steroid drug ring have dwindled to a case against one person: the ex-wife of the man suspected of running the operation.
A storage unit filled with steroids can no longer be used as evidence because of problems with a warrant. Prosecutors in February had to drop drug charges against Nina Nikola Bobic, the man officials believe headed the steroid business.
Marty Leyko, Mr. Bobic's attorney, said his client's charges have been dismissed, and he had no further comment.
But charges remain against Diane Bobic, 36.
No steroids were found during a search of her Frisco home, but cocaine, boxes of syringes, "snorting" straws, a digital scale and anxiety medicine were seized.
A grand jury indicted Ms. Bobic on three counts of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance last year. Last month, the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas ruled that the search of Ms. Bobic's house was legal, keeping the case against her alive.
Ted Steinke, Ms. Bobic's attorney, has said that he and his client have not decided what to do next.
"We are presently considering our options and whether we are going to appeal further," Mr. Steinke said after the appeals court's decision last month. "We have not made that decision. And since the cases are still pending, that's really the only comment I can make."
Christopher Milner, chief of the special crimes division at the Collin County district attorney's office, said neither case is over.
"Any additional charges against Nina [Bobic] would have to be based on evidence obtained from a source other than the storage unit search warrant," Mr. Milner said. "And the Collin County district attorney's office is not done with Ms. Bobic."
The Bobics, who were married for 11 years until their divorce in 2003, have a daughter.
In a 2003 Dallas Morning News article about personal trainers working in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Mr. Bobic said he left the professional wrestling circuit to spend more time with his then 4-year-old daughter. In wrestling circles, he was known as "Sik Nik."
The Allen Police Department began investigating Mr. Bobic, 42, in March 2005 after receiving a tip that he was selling anabolic steroids, according to a search warrant affidavit.
During their investigation, police learned Mr. Bobic, who has a 1991 conviction for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, had been buying large amounts of cattle implants from a veterinary supply company. It's not illegal to buy the drug, but "bodybuilders sometimes use them to extract an illegal steroid," according to the affidavit.
Police investigators began looking through garbage outside of Mr. Bobic's Plano house and Ms. Bobic's home in Frisco. Syringes and shortened straws, sometimes used to snort illegal drugs, were found in the trashcans. Straws from both homes tested positive for cocaine residue, court records show.
At the end of the eight-month police investigation, a district judge granted search warrants for Mr. Bobic's and Ms. Bobic's houses, and a storage unit in Plano.
The defense attorneys fought the searches, and another district judge sided with the Bobics, ruling that all three search warrants were invalid because there was not probable cause for a search. The district attorney's office chose not to fight the search of the storage unit and Mr. Bobic's home. However, the search of the Frisco home was upheld.
