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1 4 - 1 0 - 2 0 0 5 Suspended Whitehall cop charged following drug probe
The Morning Call A Whitehall Township police officer currently under suspension for allegedly choking and hitting his estranged wife has been charged with possessing and distributing anabolic steroids and the pain reliever Hydrocodone. Michael Delucia, who state police said currently lives in Northampton, was arrested and charged Thursday morning after investigators obtained documents from a Florida company identifying his alleged online drug purchases. Investigators obtained empty anabolic steroid bottles and hypodermic needles allegedly belonging to Delucia, as well as documents and a diary linking him to the sale of the controlled substances and his own steroid use, police said. Later in the investigation, police recovered Hydrocodone and steroids at Delucia's current address after receiving information about a pending Hydrocodone shipment from a Florida pharmaceutical company, police said. Among other things uncovered during the investigation was a file from the Florida company on Delucia and a fraudulent physician's examination form, which had the forged signature of a Pennsylvania physician, police said. On Friday, Delucia was ordered to face trial on simple assault and harassment charges. Police said he assaulted Jodi Delucia, 30, on May 27 at her home at 5261 Sparrow Lane in Coplay. Prosecutors had a hard time locating Jodi Delucia to get her to court Friday. She told District Judge Michele Varricchio of Allentown she did not want to testify at the hearing. Jodi Delucia had to be arrested Thursday at Michael Delucia's house and held as a material witness at Lehigh County Prison. During the hearing, Varricchio urged the couple, who share custody of two young children and are apparently trying to reconcile, to come to a final decision about their marriage. According to the statement Jodi Delucia gave to police, Michael Delucia came to Jodi Delucia's home late at night on May 27. They got into an argument and began yelling at each other. Jodi Delucia testified that she went into the bathroom to cool down, and that Michael Delucia followed her in, grabbed her arm and eventually choked her, holding her against a glass shower door, and finally lay on top of her to subdue her. She said she slapped and spit at Michael Delucia during the altercation. Michael Delucia's attorney, Angelo Almonti, told Varricchio at the hearing that the case should be dismissed because a Lehigh County judge had dismissed a protection-from-abuse order filed by Jodi Delucia in June over the same incident, based on a lower standard of evidence. 1 4 - 1 0 - 2 0 0 5 Whitehall officer faces drug charges
Police say he sold pills and steroids. He already is accused of wife assault.
By Daniel Patrick Sheehan A suspended Whitehall Township police officer awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting his estranged wife now faces accusations of obtaining, using and peddling prescription painkillers and steroids. Michael Delucia, 30, of 517 Greenview Drive, Northampton, was arrested Thursday at Lehigh County Prison, where he was being held for violating his bail in the assault case by contacting his wife. According to law enforcement officials who spoke at a news conference Thursday, police learned of Delucia's alleged drug activities during the assault investigation. State police Lt. William A. Teper Jr. said investigators determined Delucia, a six-year veteran of the Whitehall Police Department, had been using and selling anabolic steroids and hypodermic needles. He also had forged a doctor's name on fraudulent documents to place online orders for a habit-forming narcotic painkiller called hydrocodone, Teper said. Officials did not identify Delucia's alleged customers. State police Capt. Scott Snyder said the investigation is continuing. Teper said investigators uncovered a paper trail that included faxes sent from the Whitehall Township Police Department to a Florida-based drug company and diaries documenting Delucia's use of steroids and their physiological effects. Delucia is charged with dealing illegally in controlled substances, and with related drug offenses. He also is charged with identity theft because he used a Pennsylvania physician's name and identification number on the fraudulent physician's examination form, investigators said. Records showed at least 12 drug deliveries to Delucia's former addresses in North Whitehall Township and Catasauqua between April 2004 and June of this year, Teper said. Delucia was arraigned Thursday morning by Allentown District Judge Patricia Warmkessel and recommitted under $50,000 bail. Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin called the arrest of a fellow law enforcement officer ''a gut-wrenching experience.'' He also took issue with a recent statement from Delucia's attorney, Angelo Almonti, who accused authorities of pursuing the domestic case against the officer with excessive vigor and said the prosecution ''shocks the conscience.'' ''We have gone to no special lengths to prosecute Mr. Delucia either for the conduct ascribed to him in connection with his wife's injuries or with respect to this alleged [drug-related] conduct,'' Martin said. ''I suggest that what truly shocks the conscience is when a police office betrays the special trust that society reposes in police officers.'' Whitehall Township Chief Ted Kohuth called Delucia's arrest ''indeed disturbing'' and pledged that no misconduct would be tolerated in his department. He said he would recommend that Delucia's suspension without pay be continued pending the outcome of the cases. ''I wish to affirm that the overwhelming majority of Whitehall police officers are honest and hardworking,'' Kohuth said. Last Friday, District Judge Michelle Varricchio of Allentown ordered Delucia to stand trial in Lehigh County Court on charges of simple assault and harassment. According to Jodi Delucia's statement to police, Michael Delucia came to her home in Coplay late on May 27 and they began arguing. Jodi Delucia testified that she went into the bathroom to cool down, and that her husband followed her in, grabbed her arm and eventually choked her, holding her against a glass shower door, and finally lay on top of her to subdue her. She said she slapped and spit at him. Jodi Delucia apparently had reconciled with her husband and was reluctant to testify against him. She was arrested at his house before the preliminary hearing and held at Lehigh County Prison as a material witness. 3 0 - 0 4 - 2 0 0 6 Ex-police officer admits to drug, steroid possession
Debbie Garlicki A former Whitehall Township police officer pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of having controlled substances -- pain killers and steroids -- and will be sentenced in June. Michael DeLucia, 31, of Northampton, who was with the department six years before he was suspended after an investigation, resigned today. DeLucia also had been charged with assaulting his estranged wife, Jodi, but Lehigh County prosecutors dropped that case. DeLucia, now a fitness consultant at LA Fitness in South Whitehall Township, will receive a minimum sentence of time served. He had been in prison about 30 days. He is free on bail. Although the prosecution said there was evidence that DeLucia was selling controlled substances, prosecutors didn't pursue charges of possession of the drugs with intent to deliver. First Assistant District Attorney Maria Dantos said DeLucia wasn't treated differently than anyone else and was held accountable. For the substances he had, the sentence would have been the same for possession or delivery, she said. |
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
