Following up on my posts, Professional Athletes Linked to Alabama Pharmacist Convicted of Illegal Distribution of Steroids, More Information On The Illegal Distribution Of Steroids By Alabama Pharmacy, and More On Infinite Health -- Colorado Facility That Distributed Anabolic Steroids, I checked the docket in the J. Michael Bennett criminal case and it looks like we may never see the unredacted list of athletes who were allegedly recipients of illegal steroids.
As you may recall, according to an article, "Steroids case pharmacist gets 4 years in prison in Mobile case with ties to pro sports, wrestling," a number of professional athletes, including one "professional fighter" were allegedly recipients of illegal steroids from a pharmacist sentenced on August 13, 2010 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
According to the Sentencing Memorandum, "[d]uring the time of Bennett’s membership and involvement in the conspiracy, April 2004 through August 2006, the conspirators conspired to illegally distribute, and distributed, anabolic steroids and related drugs to at least 22 athletes . . ."
While the names of the athletes were not provided in full (the list of the names was separately provided in unredacted form in an exhibit filed under seal as was an exhibit titled "Athlete-photos") the chart from the Sentencing Memorandum -- a link to that chart is here -- provided, inter alia, the types of steroids used and the timeframe for what appears to be the abbreviation of the athletes' names.
In subsequent posts I followed up with additional information from the Factual Resume -- a document submitted with a plea agreement and used as evidence at the guilty plea hearing -- of a Colorado Doctor, Kelly W. Tucker M.D. detailing alleged orders that Dr. Kelly filled for and individual with the abbreviation S.C. -- an S.C. was listed in the sentencing memorandum as a "professional fighter."
I was hopeful that at some point the documents would be filed in unredacted form and it appears now that this will not be the case.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama filed a Motion to Maintain Exhibits Under Seal, stating that "[i]nasmuch as several of the exhibits could be viewed as containing personal identifying information, the United States seeks to have all exhibits from both sentencing hearings placed under seal." That motion was subsequently granted by Judge Callie V. S. Granade.
In addition, the USAO filed a Notice of Intent to Request Redaction of Transcript and Request to Maintain Transcript Under Seal Until Official Redaction Occurs. As you may recall, the Alabama Live reporter indicated that specific athlete identities were disclosed at the sentencing hearing.
Given the media attention that followed the disclosure by Alabama Live, it is not all that surprising that the government sought to maintain the exhibits under seal and to redact the transcript. This is especially so given that the government was likely relying, in large part or exclusively, on indicted individuals' testimony and statements made as part of their plea agreements, i.e. there was likely no conclusive evidence establishing any wrongdoing on the part of the athletes -- from what I can tell the athletes were never targets of any investigation and they would not have been presented with an opportunity to respond to the allegations of those involved in the distribution ring.
For what it's worth, I also reached out to Assistant United States Attorney Dobbins, who according to Alabama Live was the prosecutor at the sentencing hearing, for additional information and never heard back.
No big surprise.
Fight Lawyer
