Jimmy Ray Jones, 60, appeared last Friday in U.S. District Court in Missoula, and Dana Fiscus, 39, appeared Tuesday morning. Both men pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to make and sell steroids, and money laundering.
Jones and Fiscus face possible penalties of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and three years' supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for May 8 and 9, respectively, and they are currently released on special conditions.
According to court documents, Jones received shipments of anabolic steroid powder from China, then mixed the drugs at his home and shipped the orders to drug dealers across the United States.
Fiscus, the husband of a Missoula police officer, told investigators he was employed by Jones, who is also his stepfather. His role in the operation was to help distribute the steroids over the Internet. After receiving the steroids in bulk from China, he would process and package them into smaller quantities in Missoula.
Customers paid either by sending cash or by sending Western Union wires or MoneyGrams. The bulk product was also paid for by sending wires to the Chinese suppliers.
Western Union provided a spreadsheet to investigators, showing that Fiscus had received approximately 171 wire transfers between November 2004 and May 2006, totaling approximately $53,000. The records also revealed that Fiscus had made some wire transfers to individuals in China. Fiscus admitted the wires were payment from retail customers for steroids and the wires to China were to pay the supplier of the bulk product.
In total, investigators discovered between $150,000 and $200,000 in unexplained deposits to Jones' bank accounts.
Wisconsin authorities traced the operation to Missoula during a six-month investigation that turned up almost $140,000 worth of anabolic steroids, which are popularly used by bodybuilders.
After arresting a 20-year-old Marshfield, Wis., man who sold steroids to an undercover officer, Marshfield police traced the drugs to a private box on Reserve Street in Missoula, which was rented in Fiscus' name.
All of the steroids seized are considered controlled substances and constitute Schedule 3 drugs, which can be obtained by prescription only.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force.
Reporter Tristan Scott can be reached at 523-5264 or at tscott@missoulian.com.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)