Steroid package leads to arrest of Williamsburg man

A Williamsburg man was arrested after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alerted local police that a package of anabolic steroids from Thailand was being sent to him, according to Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird.

Mehradad Aghamiri, also known as Mike Aggie, was arrested soon after the package with steroids was delivered to his Jellico Creek Road home.

From Thetimestribune.com:

Mehradad Aghamiri, also known as Mike Aggie, 22, was arrested after the package was delivered to his Jellico Creek Road home. He was charged with second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

Bird said the pills have an estimated street value of $10,000. The package had been intercepted in Anchorage, Alaska, by Homeland Security agents.

Aghamiri was jailed in the Whitley County Detention Center.

Two Homeland Security agents and Williamsburg Police Detective Bobby Freeman and K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt delivered the package and made the arrest.

Both Homeland Security and Williamsburg Police are continuing the investigation.

Roger Clemens found not guilty of perjury about steroid use

Former Major League Baseball pitching great Roger Clemens has been acquitted by a jury of all six criminal charges against him in a trial that was deciding whether he lied to Congress about using performance enhancing drugs.

Clemens was charged with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making a false statement and two counts of perjury.

From Calgaryherald.com:

The current trial has featured 46 witnesses over 26 days of testimony, including Brian McNamee, Clemens' former trainer, who said he injected Clemens with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone between 1998 and 2001.

McNamee worked with Clemens when the pitcher played for the Toronto Blue Jays and later the New York Yankees.

McNamee testified that he kept needles, cotton balls, a broken steroid ampoule and other medical waste from injections for Clemens. Prosecutors have said some of the items contained Clemens' DNA and traces of steroids.

Clemens is a seven-time winner of the Cy Young Award for best pitcher.

Fresh hope for Callum Priestley

The reliability of doping violations for clenbuterol in the last few months have been raised with an outbreak of positive tests for the anabolic steroid clenbuterol at this summer’s under-17 football World Cup in Mexico.

One hundred and one positive tests were recorded for clenbuterol out of 208 urine samples taken during the tournament, according to a revelation by FIFA.

From Telegraph.co.uk:

The statistics are so extraordinary that both FIFA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) have confirmed they will not be prosecuting any cases, blaming the failed tests on contaminated meat.

Mexican authorities admit the country has a major problem with farmers feeding clenbuterol to livestock to produce leaner, more valuable meat.

Based on what it describes as FIFA’s “compelling evidence”, Wada has also dropped its appeal against the decision of the Mexican football federation not to sanction five senior Mexican players who tested positive for clenbuterol at the Concacaf Gold Cup in June.

The news is expected to help Alberto Contador and Callum Priestley who have been accused of making use of clenbuterol but have blamed contaminated meat for the positive tests. The ban of Priestley is due to end in February, though he remains banned from the Olympics for life under the rules of British Olympic Association.

Healthy choices' session conducted by coaches and athletes

In today's competitive sports world, only a few coaches would deny that more than half a million high school athletes use performance enhancing drugs or supplements are not using to get an edge on the competition.

“It’s a problem across the board…if not steroids, it’s the supplements (you can buy at health food stores) or the energy drinks,” said LHS varsity football coach Ron Lewis. “Players might want to get hyped up before the game so they take a 5-hour energy drink.”

From Lakewoodobserver.com:

A health promotion and substance abuse prevention program called ATLAS (Athletes Training & Learning to Avoid Steroids) & ATHENA (Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise & Nutrition Alternatives) partnered with the NFL to help young athletes across the country get on board with healthy choices to help their bodies perform to the best of their natural ability. On Thursday, September 22, six coaches and 38 athletes from Lakewood High School attended an ATLAS & ATHENA training session hosted by the Cleveland Browns at Browns Stadium.

The Lakewood contingent was part of 200 coaches and student-athletes from seven area schools invited to Browns Stadium to listen to experts talk to them about sports nutrition, strength training and the effects of steroids, alcohol, supplements and illicit drugs on performance. It was also a chance for the athletes to talk about the pressures they face and what might be some good ways to cope with that pressure.

“I feel it prepared us well to come back to our teams and be a leader,” Abby Boland, a senior on the girls’ soccer team said.

Verdone thrilled to sign Lions contract

Taken in the fifth round by the Lions in the 2012 CFL draft, Linebacker/long snapper Jordan Verdone is excited to sign Lions contract.

“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be very upset,” Verdone said. “I’m definitely motivated to play for the B.C. Lions this year. My mindset is I’ll be there in 2012.”

From Vancouversun.com:

Though he has two years of CIS eligibility remaining, Verdone has no intention of returning to Calgary, even though the Dinos offered a lifeline to his college football career.

Two years ago, he was caught up in the football steroids scandal at the University of Waterloo, a school he attended because his older brother, Jamie, went there and won a Yates Cup (Ontario university championship) in 1999.

A regional police raid at two residences at the university in March 2010, turned up a quantity of anabolic steroids and HGH (human growth hormone) which implicated members of the football team.

The director of Waterloo athletics ordered the entire squad to be tested for performance-enhancing drugs. Nine tested positive, in the biggest doping scandal in Canadian university sports history.

“It’s a football factory, man. Awesome, really cool,” he explained. “The whole program at Waterloo was thrown into the garbage can. It was a terrible decision. I was bitter for so long. But when I got to Calgary, I never thought about it again. The players, the coaching, the alumni, the organization, the support ... it’s all first class. It makes you forget how badly you’ve been treated.”

Braun vehemently denies steroid allegations

Milwaukee leftfielder Ryan Braun has disputed allegations that he took performance-enhancing substances to maintain his innocence, while accepting his National League MVP.

"I always believed that a person's character is revealed in those moments of adversity," he said. "I have so much respect for the game of baseball. Everything I've done in my career has been done with that appreciation in mind."

From Winnipegfreepress.com:

Braun, who won the honours after hitting .332 with 33 home runs and 111 RBI in the regular season, also thanked the Players Association for "supporting me, especially after everything I've been through the last couple of months."

Braun tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone in December. He's appealing the results this month but if Major League Baseball deems that he was on steroids, he could face a 50-game suspension. It was the 89th annual awards dinner, meant to honour the biggest names in baseball.

"Sometimes in life, we all deal with challenges we never expected," he said. "We have an opportunity to look at those challenges as obstacles or opportunities and I've chosen to see every challenge as an opportunity. This will be no different."