Tinley Park steroid defendant appears in court, By: Jonathan Lipman

October 28, 2006

Larry Calow, accused of running an illegal Internet pharmacy from his Tinley Park home, will be held in a federal lockup until a bail hearing Tuesday.

Calow made his first appearance in court Friday. He was ill Thursday and unable to appear with other defendants in the case before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan.

Nolan ordered Calow held until his bond hearing Tuesday.

Calow, along with his brother, daughter and three others, is accused of illegally supplying prescription drugs and steroids through their PMeds.com Web site. Drugs allegedly were smuggled into Tinley Park from Mexico and Belize and then distributed.

Three of the defendants in the case were in court Thursday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Schneider said Larry Calow's brother, Gary Calow, still is in Mexico.

"We're making arrangement to have the Mexican authorities contact him and arrange for his return," Schneider said.

Another defendant, Sergio Oliveira, is in custody in Georgia on a related federal case, Schneider said.