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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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0 4 - 0 2 - 2 0 0 5 State Prison Workers Charged With Dealing Steroids
News4Jax.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Four current or former Department of Corrections employees have been arrested on federal charges of distribution of steroids. Warrants obtained based on a federal indictment handed down last Thursday named Sgt. Oscar Shipley, 41, who works at the Lake Butler Reception and Medical Center, and Clayton Manning, 33, who works at the New River East Correctional Center in Raiford. Both placed on administrative leave after their arrests. Also indicted were former DOC employees Michael Chambliss, 36, and Marcus Hodges, 32. Jennifer Hall, 29, identified as Manning's ex-girlfriend, is charged with obstruction of justice. The indictments resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, the Postal Inspector, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Clay County Sheriff's Office. If convicted on the steroid charges, the suspects could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $500,000. 1 2 - 0 8 - 2 0 0 5 Details in prison steroid ring arise
By KAREN VOYLES JACKSONVILLE - Details about how illegal steroids got from Egypt into the hands of state prison workers in North Florida emerged Thursday morning when a former correctional officer was sentenced to probation for his part in the scheme. Clayton Manning, 37, of Keystone Heights, was sentenced to three years probation and fined $2,500 after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiring to distribute anabolic steroids. Manning had worked as a correctional officer in the state prison system in the 1990s and for the Bradford County Sheriff's Office before moving to Egypt to work as a personal bodyguard. Federal prosecutors said Manning sent shipments of steroids from Egypt to people in North Florida, who wired him as much as $5,000 at a time. Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Pashayan urged U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. to impose a harsher sentence for Manning than had been imposed on another person already sentenced in the case, Benjamin Carey Zoltowski. Zoltowski, 28, of Keystone Heights was among those charged with receiving steroids from Manning and then distributing them "to other correctional officers in the Union, Bradford, Clay and Baker county areas," according to court records. In a plea deal, he was sentenced to three years' probation, fined $2,500 and ordered to perform 150 hours of community service Pashayan told the judge, "What's most disappointing is that Mr. Manning is a former state correctional officer and he was supplying other state law enforcement officers. That's what's most alarming." The motive for correctional officers to use steroids is image, according to a recently retired correctional officer who worked at three institutions during his 25 year career. "We have inmates who can spend pretty much all day working out and getting buff," said the officer who asked not to be identified. "Some of the younger officers, the ones who are still thinking they need to be able to look intimidating to be in control, are the ones that those steroids will appeal to." Department of Corrections officials said there has been no obvious steroid use problem by employees. "We require a pre-employment drug test and we can also drug test for a reasonable suspicion," said department spokeswoman Debra Buchanan. During 2004, Buchanan said six of the department's approximately 26,000 employees were drug tested under the "reasonable suspicion" policy and that three tested positive. Manning, accompanied to court by his mother and wife, apologized for his participation in the steroid scheme. "I did something I am real regretful for," he said. He told the judge that he and his wife want to start a family, but his own use of steroids will require at least $10,000 worth of medical care to help resolve his fertility problem. "That's a hell of a price to pay for some body enhancement," Judge Adams said before imposing the probationary sentence and ordering Manning to pay a civil penalty of $20,000 in addition to the $2,500 criminal fine. Manning's role in the steroid scheme became apparent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials when they began intercepting steroid shipments in March 2003 at post office boxes and residential mail boxes in Keystone Heights, Raiford, Macclenny and Starke. In October 2003, Clay County Sheriff's deputies went to Zoltowski's home and confiscated more than 2,000 units of steroids along with a ledger detailing steroid sales. As the case unfolded, others with ties to the prison system were implicated, including Oscar Shipley, 41, of Starke, a 12-year veteran of the Department of Corrections. Following his February arrest in the case, Shipley was reassigned at the Reception and Medical Center in Union County to a job with no contact with inmates. Last week, Shipley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and resigned from the department. Shipley is not expected to be sentenced until he testifies against another suspect in the case, Marcus Hodges of Macclenny, who is charged with conspiracy to distribute steroids. Court records show Hodges, who also worked for the state prison system in the 1990s and has used the alias Marcus Starling, is scheduled to go on trial in November. At least one other defendant is expected to enter a plea and be sentenced later this month. 0 5 - 1 0 - 2 0 0 5 Captain at Starke prison found dead after allegations
AP STARKE, Fla. - A corrections captain fired in an ongoing investigation into an alleged sexual assault at Florida State Prison was found dead Tuesday of an apparent suicide, officials said. His death is the latest in a string of scandals in the state's prison system. The body of Capt. Keith Davison, who worked at New River Correctional Institution, was found a day after he was fired for conduct unbecoming of a corrections officer. The Union County Sheriff's Office confirmed Davison died from a single gunshot wound to the head. "I am deeply saddened by the news of Capt. Davison's death," Department of Corrections Secretary James Crosby said in a statement. "On behalf of the entire department, our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this very difficult time." A telephone number listed for Davison was disconnected, and it was not known if he had family in the area. In Davison's dismissal letter, it said he was being terminated for unauthorized use of Department of Correction's property. "Specifically, you have admitted that you used the visitor's suite at Florida State Prison's Bachelor Officer Quarters, and you participated in a party that had not been authorized. You also engaged in inappropriate behavior with a subordinate employee while at this location," the letter said. Bradford County authorities were still investigating an alleged sexual assault at the party Friday night and refused to comment on whether Davison was a suspect, said Bradford sheriff's Lt. W.H. "Bear" Bryant. "It is still an open investigation," Bryant said. Robby Cunningham, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections, said the agency was cooperating in the investigation. Davison's termination is the latest in a series of events drawing attention to the behavior of prison officials. In August, Allen Clark, 40, a Crosby protege, resigned his position as regional director as federal and state officials began looking into Clark's part at a brawl at a softball banquet and other allegations of wrongdoing. Several prison guards have been indicted for importing steroids from Egypt for use by other corrections officers, and others were charged with embezzling money received by the prisons from recycling. Two former officers have pleaded guilty in federal court in Jacksonville, admitting they funneled steroids to other prison guards. They each received three years' probation and fines of $2,500. In addition, prison officials have been giving depositions in a federal civil case by women who are current and past department employees who alleged they were sexually harassed at work. That case is scheduled to go to trial in March. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI confirmed last month they are looking into officers in the corrections department. Calls to those agencies were not immediately returned. 1 7 - 1 1 - 2 0 0 5 Ex-ball player takes plea deal in corrections steroids ring
By JOE FOLLICK TALLAHASSEE -- A man at the center of a steroids distribution ring involving former Department of Corrections officers has reached a plea agreement and will cooperate with investigators. Marcus Dwayne Hodges' trial was to begin this month in Jacksonville. With his agreement to avoid trial, all five men charged in the steroids ring earlier this year have taken plea agreements. One man, Oscar Shipley, is facing a hearing this month on charges that he violated the condition of his release. The other three men arrested are Michael Chambliss, Clayton Manning and Benjamin Zoltowski. Hodges' attorney, Tom Edwards of Gainesville, said Tuesday that Hodges wished to avoid the trial in an effort to turn his life away from negative influences within the DOC. Besides the steroids arrest, Hodges, a former correctional officer, had been charged with hunting illegally in two states, fighting with Gainesville police and playing softball for a prison team whose behavior was so unsportsmanlike that the team was banned from competition for two years. "When you get caught up in a subculture, which is what the Department of Corrections really is -- a closed, a very closed community -- Mr. Hodges was put in a situation where he did things he would not normally do," said Edwards. "People in the department can retaliate directly or indirectly and that is a practice that has been associated with the department since it was organized." Edwards also characterized Hodges as having a sincere desire to change his life and "throw off the shackles of DOC which were holding him down." In late October, Hodges, 32, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute steroids and other drugs. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years in prison, but will likely qualify for five years or less under federal sentencing guidelines. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 20 by U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. at the federal courthouse in Jacksonville. Hodges was arrested earlier this year and charged with distributing drugs including steroids, painkillers, sedatives and Viagra to corrections officers and others between May 2002 and May 2004. Hodges, who has also been known as Marcus Starling, is a former minor league baseball player in the Minnesota Twins farm system and was a member of the 2002 Big House softball team that was coached by Allen Clark, the former Region I director who resigned his position in late August amid a sprawling state and federal investigation into the department. In addition to the use and sale of steroids, the investigations are focusing on the illegal use of inmate labor and state materials by DOC employees, the hiring of employees to play softball, and embezzlement of recycling and employee funds. The Clark-coached team also included Richard Frye and James Bowen, who were arrested last week along with Clark for allegedly instigating a fight at an April 1 softball banquet in Tallahassee. Last month, Frye and Bowen were placed on paid leave from their posts at Apalachee Correctional Institution. But that was changed to unpaid leave this week and they were told to leave their state-provided housing on the ACI grounds, according to DOC spokesman Robby Cunningham. On Sept. 11, 2002, Gainesville Police arrested Hodges and another former prison employee and softball player, Del Beggs, for failing to move off a downtown street after bar closing time. Two days after the Gainesville arrest, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers began investigating Hodges and Shipley, another team member and former correctional officer arrested in the steroids case. Their investigation focused on possession of deer during closed season. 0 2 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 5 Former Florida Prison Guard Sentenced In Steroid Probe
December 1, 2005 JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A former Department of Corrections officer pleaded guilty to taking part in a prison-based steroids distribution ring and was sentenced to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service. Oscar Shipley, 41, became the fourth person to plead guilty to avoid prison time for taking part in the ring. He could have faced up to five years in prison when he was sentenced Wednesday. Shipley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, which are used illegally to increase muscle mass but can lead to heart attacks, strokes, cancer, sterility and mood swings. Shipley's deal includes cooperating with the government in ongoing investigations of the state prison system. The steroid charges are part of a state and federal investigation that includes embezzlement from a state-run recycling facility and misuse of state property and prison labor. Shipley was indicted in February, along with former corrections officers Michael Chambliss, Marcus Hodges and Clayton Manning. Hodges' sentencing is scheduled for January and the other two are on probation. Benjamin Zoltowski and Bryan Griffis were indicted in 2004 on the same charges and pleaded guilty. Zoltowski received probation and Griffis will be sentenced this month. Court records show Manning was in Egypt and sent steroids back to northeast Florida, including six packages U.S. Customs officials intercepted between March and October 2003, court records show. Griffis, Shipley and Zoltowski then distributed the drugs to corrections officers and other customers in the area. Shipley was accused of wiring more than $5,900 to Manning to pay for the steroids. Like several of the former guards in the steroids case, Shipley played on a prison softball team coached by Allen Clark, a former regional director of North Florida prisons. Clark is at the center of the state and federal probe and resigned his $94,000-a-year job in August. 3 1 - 0 5 - 2 0 0 6 DOC officer gets 5 years probation for his part in steroid ring
AP JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A former state corrections officer was sentenced to five years probation Tuesday for his role in a steroid ring among prison guards and embezzling from a prison recycling program. U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan said Bryan Griffis, who managed a center that recycles prison trash, and other Corrections Department officials were so consumed with winning softball tournaments that they encouraged players to use and distribute steroids, The Florida Times-Union reported. Griffis was also ordered to pay back the $34,705.32 embezzled from the recycling center. He had previously pleaded guilty to embezzling from the center. He also pleaded guilty for his role in an anabolic steroid ring in which he sold the drugs to fellow officers and others. The department has been under a cloud of suspicion recently and the target of state and federal investigations. In the past eight months secretary James Crosby was among more than a dozen officials who resigned.
Prosecutors said Griffis and others had steroids shipped from Egypt, Griffis is one of six former officers to plead guilty in the steroid investigation. None of the four who were sentenced so far have received prison time. Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Pashayancq said he would not discuss details of the ongoing investigation when Corrigan asked whether the high ranking officials will be charged in connection with the steroids and embezzlement. An after hours telephone message left at the office of Griffis' attorney Terry Silverman was not immediately returned. |
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