News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island
January 2, 2007
Florida man is charged with selling steroid conversion kits
The United States Attorney has charged Byron Parker, of Delray Beach Florida, with selling paraphernalia used to convert anabolic steroids into an injectable form. Parker is alleged to have grossed more than $900,000 in 2005 and 2006 selling the kits over the Internet. Parker has agreed to plead guilty and to forfeit $250,000, identified as the proceeds of the sales.
United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente and Mark Dragonetti, the regional Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA OCI), jointly announced a criminal information, which was filed on December 27 in U.S. District Court, Providence. An agreement to plead guilty, signed by Parker, was filed at the same time.
According to the information, Parker, 32, ran a business called Research Services LLC, which was located in West Palm Beach, Florida. Through that business he operated a Web site called “researchlabsupply.com,” on which he advertised for sale paraphernalia intended to be used to convert anabolic steroids from powder to an injectable liquid. The kits that he sold consisted of such materials as cottonseed or sesame oil, Ethyl Oleate, benzyl alcohol, sterile syringe filters, and glass bottles.
In 2005, according to the information, Research Services grossed $240,395. In 2006, gross sales reached $697,600. Parker’s customers were located throughout the country, including Rhode Island.
The information calls for the forfeiture of $250,000 in proceeds from the paraphernalia sales, and identifies $219,067 that federal agents seized from various accounts that Parker held. In the plea agreement, Parker concedes the forfeiture.
The statutory maximum penalty for selling drug paraphernalia is three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Parker is scheduled to appear for arraignment in U.S. District Court on January 10. He has not been arrested.
Even though the defendant has signed an agreement to plead guilty, the information is still merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
A task force led by FDA OCI conducted the investigation. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service participated in the task force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adi Goldstein is prosecuting the case.