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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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1 7 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 4 Man charged for steroids calls arrest a betrayal
By DAN McLEAN
LITCHFIELD — A Massachusetts man arrested with 241 vials of liquid anabolic steroids and 14 bags of miscellaneous white pills yesterday said his arrest was "blown out of proportion."
He also acknowledged he knew what was in the package, but said he was only going to be paid "a couple hundred dollars" to pick up the package for someone else.
Sean O'Brien, 33, of Lowell, Mass., was released on bail yesterday morning after a judge ruled his bail money was not connected to drug sales.
In a telephone interview with The Union Leader yesterday after his arraignment, O'Brien said he was "pretty aggravated" and felt "kind of betrayed" by the arrest, since he had assisted a postal inspector involved in the case in the past.
A collection of state and federal officers arrested O'Brien, 33, at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday after a short high-speed pursuit along Route 3A in northern Litchfield. The less-than-one-mile chase started in a dirt parking lot near the home where the drugs were delivered, court documents said.
After crossing into the oncoming lane of traffic to avoid an unmarked police cruiser that blocked the travel lane, O'Brien was "forcibly stopped" by police on Route 3A across from Sterling Drive, police said.
"It's definitely blown out of proportion. It wasn't a Hollywood movie," O'Brien said in a phone interview yesterday.
O'Brien, of 5 Raynor St., Lowell, is charged with possession of a controlled drug with the intent to distribute, a felony, and two class A misdemeanors: resisting arrest and disobeying an officer.
In Merrimack District Court on Wednesday, O'Brien pleaded innocent to the two misdemeanor charges. A probable cause hearing will be held in the district court on Jan. 27 at 8:30 a.m. for the felony charge.
The bust unfolded after U.S. Postal Inspector Michael McCarran notified the New Hampshire State Police Narcotics Investigation Unit on Tuesday that he received information from the Los Angeles Police Department's parcel squad that a 24-pound brown cardboard box was being mailed through Federal Express to 13 Garden Drive in Litchfield, court documents state.
"Based on additional information received from a related ongoing investigation, it was believed that the package contained evidence in violation of the controlled drug act," State Trooper Jennifer MacKenzie wrote in an affidavit filed with the court.
After Judge Clifford Kinghorn granted authorization, McCarran opened the package at 1:35 p.m. Tuesday, finding the drugs. The postal inspector then resealed the package. A special agent with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force then delivered the package at 3:05 p.m. to the Litchfield address, where it was kept under constant surveillance, court documents state.
Fourteen minutes later, surveillance units saw O'Brien leaving the Garden Drive address in his white 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix, the documents state.
O'Brien said he was instructed to be at the Litchfield address at 3 p.m., where he picked up the package in the home's carport.
O'Brien said he never opened the package, but "knew to some degree" what it contained, but did not know the quantity. In a press release, state police allege that O'Brien is believed to sell the steroids, made in Mexico for animal consumption, to weight lifters throughout New England. Asked what he was planning to do with the package, O'Brien said he was instructed to "hold it until I was contacted by somebody."
Typically, O'Brien said he receives "a couple hundred dollars" to pick up a package; O'Brien said he did not get paid for this delivery.
He said he did not know the owners of the house where the box was delivered and had been to Litchfield only once before, roughly three weeks ago, when he scouted the delivery location.
O'Brien said he does not know why the Litchfield address was picked for the delivery, but said, "I think they picked this place because it was quiet."
O'Brien said he is "pretty aggravated" that the New Hampshire State Police issued a press release on the incident, because he said he has worked with authorities in the past.
"I do feel kind of betrayed," he said, explaining that after he was caught shipping "Special K" (the anesthetic Ketamine) to his house in May 2002, he cooperated with McCarran for six months, explaining to him how the business works. [ErGs]
O'Brien said he told McCarran about Mexico, typical prices and where to find sources on the Internet, but did not "rat out" anybody.
"They might be federal agents, but they're very awful when it comes to technology," he said. "I'm not exactly a snitch, you know," said O'Brien, who said he lives in a basement apartment in his mother's home.
Since O'Brien's name is now public, he said it will be very difficult for him to assist authorities, even if he wanted to.
"Anyone that knows, who dealt with me, is not going to talk to me anymore. They kind of burned a bridge," he said of the police.
McCarran could not be reached for comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Laplante said the U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing the case at the request of state police and would not comment on whether the owners of 13 Garden Drive are being investigated.
The package was shipped from Northridge, Calif., with the return address of KIM Enterprises, 5512 Sepulveda Blvd., Sherman Oaks, Calif., court documents state.
O'Brien said KIM Enterprises is "just a dummy address that's not real."
The money to secure the $75,000 bail from a Massachusetts bondsman was supplied by O'Brien's mother, Sandra. Judge Kinghorn ruled that the money constitutes "legitimate funds" received through an inheritance.
Neither of O'Brien's attorneys — Richard McClure of Chelmsford, Mass., or Jeffrey Gaumont of Merrimack — could be reached for comment.
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