Officials ignored banned lean meat drug use

A jail term of seven years has been imposed on a former husbandry official in central China's Henan Province for dereliction of duty and embezzlement.

The former department chief of the Jiaxian County agriculture and husbandry bureau, Liu Jinchun, was convicted of forging test reports and siphoning off 70,000 yuan (US$11,109) from subsidies to raisers, the Jiaxian County People's Court said.

From Shanghaidaily.com:

Liu asked raisers to prepare clean pig urine samples ahead of checks by provincial authorities. He also issued quality passes to raisers without supervision, yesterday's Legal Daily reported.

Officials told the court that Liu's department would test pig urine samples before the checks to ensure they were clean. "We sealed the samples in the fridges and heated them when provincial investigators came," they said.

Despite the fact that Henan had repeatedly ordered local authorities to strictly monitor banned chemicals in pig feed, there wasn't a quality investigation department in the Jiaxian bureau, Liu said.

"The records of the daily feeds and drugs are incomplete and bogus. We never checked the raisers and we ignored their illegal behaviors. We just polished the records to deal with the officials from the provincial authorities," Liu told the court.

Pigs tested positive for clenbuterol, a chemical poisonous to humans, which is banned in China and yet continues to appear in the food chain.

Lance Armstrong doping investigation dropped

A stalemate in the debate over how to deal with the use of anabolic steroids in sport could be marked by the decision by US prosecutors to drop a two-year doping investigation of legendary Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong.

The cyclist was being investigated for possible crimes ranging from defrauding the government, conspiring with other cyclists for substance distribution, and trafficking.

From Alaskadispatch.com:

But the decision by US Attorney Andre Birotte on Friday to close the Armstrong investigation comes after a number of high-profile prosecutions managed to raise awareness about the seriousness of doping, but failed to produce significant legal victories against the defendants.

In a 2011 federal trial, retired home run king Barry Bonds escaped serious criminal charges after becoming one of 86 baseball players in the 2007 Mitchell Report linked to doping. Last year, the judge in the Roger Clemens perjury trial quickly declared a mistrial after a prosecutor introduced disallowed evidence to jurors. Clemens is slated for a retrial in April.

In both those cases, the government wasn't trying to prove the sports stars took illegal steroids, but that they lied to investigators – and, in Clemens' case, to Congress – during the investigation.

“The United States Attorney determined that a public announcement concerning the closing of the investigation was warranted by numerous reports about the investigation in media outlets around the world,” US Attorney Andre Birotte said in a statement.

Carvalho admits to steroid injections

Daniel Carvalho, the former Brazil international midfielder, has recently admitted that he received regular injections of anabolic steroids while being a part of Russian club CSKA Moscow.

I was given the drugs because CSKA's medical staff considered me "weak," Carvalho said.

From Itv.com:

"In Russian football there isn't any [anti-]doping," he said. "There were needles put into my vein, and on the sixth or seventh injection I stopped taking them because I discovered that it was going straight into my heart.

"I told them I didn't want to take it any more."

The 28-year-old Brazilian, who was Man of the Match in CSKA's UEFA Cup Final win over Sporting Lisbon in 2005, was initially a hit in Russia, and was capped three times by Brazil in 2006.

But a decline in his performances, amid questions over his physical fitness, have provoked criticism - and Carvalho now blames the doping regime he alleges he was subject to in Moscow.

"I left Brazil thin, very thin," Carvalho said. "Then I went to Russia for six years, and they gave me steroid injections, and after six months I'd put on eight kilos."

Bodybuilder admits to raw steroid imports

A Polish man who formerly ran a gym in Dungannon has admitted to imports of almost two kilos of raw steroids in what a court heard was a “well planned, well organised operation”.

Mariusz Bak, 30, from Castleview Heights, pleaded guilty at Omagh Crown Court to possess the Class C steroids with intent to supply, and also to importing the drugs.

From Tyronetimes.co.uk:

The court was told that from January last year to January this year, officers from the UK Borders Agency and Customs and Excise seized 1.72 kilos of various body building powders at Heathrow Airport, having been sent from China, destined for Bak’s home address.

Prosecuting lawyer Robin Steer told the court that as well as the class-C drugs, officers also intercepted a metal press capable of making “thousands” of tablets in a day, 13,000 printed labels and during searches at Bak’s home, uncovered a receipt for the purchase of 1,086 glass vials and “paper work for the delivery of steroids”.

Arrested in September 2010, Bak, who was running a gym in the town at the time, admitted importing the steroids but claimed the tablet press was to be used to make protein tablets as a body supplement.

Bak was sentenced to a two year jail term that was suspended for three years.

MMA fighter tests positive for steroids

Strikeforce star Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos will lose her 145-pound women's title after she tested positive for a steroid.

The California State Athletic Commission announced drug tests related to a Dec. 17 championship bout with Hiroko Yamanaka revealed the presence of stanozolol metabolites in the urine sample provided by Santos.

From Rgj.com:

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had a more measured response in a prepared statement:
"Strikeforce has not seen the test results regarding Ms. Santos. However, we have a consistent and strong stance against any use of performance-enhancing drugs. We also have a long history of supporting effective drug testing of athletes by authorized regulatory bodies.
"Therefore, we will closely monitor the matter and will work with the California State Athletic Commission regarding any information we may be asked to provide. We also recognize that Ms. Santos has administrative process rights under California law and we hope that she is not prejudged before she has the opportunity to exercise such rights."

The test result means a $2,500 fine and a suspension of Santos' license to fight in California.

Fletcher given four-year ban by UK Anti-Doping

Shot-putter Carl Fletcher has received a ban of four years from UK Anti-Doping after being convicted of trafficking anabolic steroids.

Fletcher was sentenced to nine months in prison at Liverpool crown court for drug offences, including supplying 16 types of class C substances.

From Guardian.co.uk:

His offence involved the supply of a number of anabolic steroids, including testosterone, human growth hormone and Trenbolone, all of which are banned under the World Anti-Doping Agency code.

Fletcher, who was provisionally suspended from all competition on 8 November, is banned from participation in sport until 7 November 2015.

The UKAD chief executive, Andy Parkinson, said the case demonstrated the extent to which it was increasingly working with law enforcement agencies, in this case including Merseyside police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

"This case proves the invaluable role that law enforcement agencies have in the fight against doping in sport and demonstrates that our intelligence system is working effectively," Parkinson said.

Sentence for supplements distributor

A Centennial supplements distributor has been sentenced by a federal judge to a year’s probation, ordered it to forfeit $107,000, and fined it $50,000 for a charge of mail fraud connected to the distribution of steroids.

The announcement was recently made by U.S. Attorney for Colorado John Walsh.

From Bizjournals.com:

Federal prosecutors accused Axis Labs of mail-order sales in 2008 and 2009 of a muscle-building and weight-loss product called Monster Caps, which the company purported was a dietary supplement that didn’t need to be prescribed by a doctor.

Monster Caps contained undeclared synthetic anabolic steroids and should have been sold like a regulated drug and approved for sale by Food & Drug Administration, investigators alleged.

U.S. District Judge Wiley Daniel sentenced the company that pleaded guilty to the single count on Oct. 13, 2011.