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1 1 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 7 200G worth of steroids found
'Mother lode' seized from Brooklyn pharmacy
MICHAEL O'KEEFFE and
T.J. QUINN
The same Albany narcotics agents who led raids on Florida pharmacies and "anti-aging" clinics in February hit a mom-and-pop Brooklyn pharmacy yesterday - seizing what one official described as a "mother lode" of steroids and growth hormone.
Investigators from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement surprised the owners of Lowen's Compounding Pharmacy with a sudden inspection, carrying off about $200,000 worth of performance-enhancing drugs, almost all of which had been shipped from China, Albany County Assistant District Attorney Chris Baynes told the Daily News.
Baynes said investigators took stacks of client papers, and he expects to find the names of professional athletes, as agents have in prior pharmacy raids.
"Reason holds that there would be, based on prior experience," he said.
Baynes, who works for Albany County District Attorney David Soares, was part of the team that raided Signature Pharmacy in Orlando in February, along with several "anti-aging" clinics.
Soares has indicted 21 people in a multistate scheme to provide drugs over the Internet. Seven suspects have pleaded guilty already.
According to Baynes, his office learned about Lowen's because "their name had come up frequently during the Signature Pharmacy investigation."
Once Signature was raided, Baynes said, Lowen's stepped in and began filling prescriptions for one of the anti-aging centers Signature had supplied.
No arrests were made at Lowen's yesterday, but Baynes said his office continues to investigate.
When agents arrived yesterday at Lowen's in Bay Ridge, an old-fashioned family pharmacy with a sign out front that says, "Welcome back DC37 members," there was "a busy fax machine with drug orders from around the country coming into it and a large stockpile of Chinese steroids," Baynes said.
Employees at the pharmacy refused to speak to a reporter. Other than the three investigators carrying boxes out the front door, it was business as usual.
Baynes said investigators were not calling the action a raid, and that no search warrant was served. Because Lowen's is a regulated pharmacy, agents "are allowed to do inspections, either randomly or based on some sort of belief that there's irregularities going on," Baynes said.
1 3 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 7 Brooklyn steroid raid points to mob tie
Movie thug and son are linked to Brooklyn pharmacy
MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
A Brooklyn pharmacy searched by state investigators hunting for steroids has ties to mobbed-up movie producer Julius Nasso, the Daily News has learned.
Nasso is the co-owner of the Bay Ridge building that houses Lowen's Compounding Pharmacy, and he's also in business with the company's president, according to official documents.
In addition, Nasso's 27-year-old son and namesake owns a piece of Lowen's, said the family's spokesman Richard Rubenstein, who downplayed the links.
"Jules [Sr.] does not have an interest in or own or operate the pharmacy," Rubenstein said. "He has nothing to do with it. He owns the building where the pharmacy is located."
Nasso spent nearly a year in prison after admitting he conspired with Gambino crime family gangsters to extort $3 million from action movie star Steven Seagal.
Nasso is a trained pharmacist who founded a medical supply company, but he's better known for producing Seagal flicks such as "Out for Justice," "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory," "The Patriot" and "The Glimmer Man."
Nasso's relationship with Seagal soured in the late '90s, and he eventually sued the martial arts macho man for $60 million, claiming he reneged on a deal to appear in four films.
At a sit-down at Brooklyn's Gage & Tollner restaurant in 2001, mobsters told Seagal he had to keep making movies with his estranged partner or kick back $150,000 a flick - or else, prosecutors charged.
Nasso was indicted and pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2003. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, but released two months early for good behavior.
Law enforcement agents came back into Nasso's orbit last Wednesday when investigators from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement swooped down on Lowen's.
They carried off $200,000 worth of steroids, human growth hormone and other drugs, most imported from China, s aid Albany County prosecutor Christopher Baynes.
Authorities took stacks of records from the pharmacy, and Baynes expects they will yield the names of professional athletes.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares has been investigating what he calls a multistate scheme to sell anti-aging drugs over the Internet. Twenty-one people have been indicted; seven have pleaded guilty.
Lowen's was targeted because its name came up frequently during Soares' investigation. No arrests have been made in connection with the pharmacy.
Documents obtained from the New York Department of State show Lowen's president is John Rossi. Rubenstein said Rossi and Nasso are co-owners in Universal Pharmaceutical, which owns the Third Ave. building that houses Lowen's.
"But Jules has nothing to do with the pharmacy," Rubenstein said. "And his son has just a nominal interest."
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
