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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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2 1 - 0 3 - 2 0 0 8 Doctor pleads guilty to steroids charge
Florida osteopath gave prescriptions to star musicians, dead wrestler
By ROBERT GAVIN and BRENDAN J. LYONS
ALBANY -- A Florida doctor who wrote prescriptions for steroids and human growth hormone to top celebrities and professional wrestlers acknowledged in Albany County Court Thursday that he routinely doled out drugs to people who had no legitimate medical needs for the products. Dr. Gary Brandwein, an osteopath from Boca Raton, admitted to taking part in a nationwide prescription-drug network as he pleaded guilty to a single felony count of criminal sale of a controlled substance. Under a plea agreement, Brandwein faces up to a year in jail and a year on probation when he is sentenced in the coming months. Before that happens Brandwein has agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation of
Brandwein drew attention in the multi-state case because some clients included top stars, such as R&B singer Mary J. Blige and rap star Curtis Jackson -- also known as 50 Cent. The artists allegedly received multiple orders of steroids and human growth hormone with the help of Brandwein's prescriptions, the Times Union first reported in January. The Times Union identified other recipients as rap artists Timbaland and Wyclef Jean, and award-winning author and producer Tyler Perry. The celebrities all were clients of Michael Diamond, a Long Island chiropractor, according to confidential sources. Another Brandwein client was pro wrestler Christopher Benoit, 40, who hanged himself after strangling his wife and suffocating his 7-year-old son in their Georgia home last year. Benoit, who had 10 times the normal levels of testosterone in his system when he died, received prescriptions from Brandwein for nandrolone and testosterone in December 2005 and February 2006, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Those orders were received more than a year before Benoit died and were not linked to his death, authorities said. Brandwein, 52, is scheduled to testify today before an Albany County grand jury hearing testimony in a related case against former New York Police Department Officer Anthony Forgione, whose South Florida steroids business was raided by Florida and New York investigators last fall. Brandwein was indicted on six felony counts last year. He was facing new charges from the grand jury he is now scheduled to appear before today as a witness. Jonathan B. Ripps, Forgione's attorney, said his client intends to fight the charges even though Brandwein, a former close business associate of Forgione's, has agreed to testify against him. "I'm not aware of what occurred yet in the County Court but Mr. Forgione is still maintaining his innocence," Ripps said, after learning of Brandwein's deal. "You've got to wonder why the doctors are getting the deals ... and not the little guys." Terence L. Kindlon, Brandwein's attorney, disputed any assertion that his client was near the top of the alleged prescription drug network. "The biggest guys are doing millions and millions of dollars," Kindlon said. "At the outset, when he first got involved in it, it was his impression it was cutting-edge medicine." He said some doctors consider a patient's decision to take steroids to being no different than a person's decision to have plastic surgery. Brandwein's guilty plea Thursday was in connection with the sale of steroids that were delivered to Daniel Mori at a Latham office in May 2006. Mori, a 38-year-old engineer, turned to the Internet after his own doctors refused to prescribe steroids, according to court records. Mori also is facing charges. |
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