Jennings Man Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison For Importing And Distributing Anabolic Steroids

LAKE CHARLES, La. –United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Christopher Paul Benoit, 34, of Jennings, La., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to unlawfully import and possess with the intent to distribute anabolic steroids.  He was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.

According to evidence presented at the guilty plea on January 20, 2014, Benoit conspired with others to import and distribute anabolic steroids from January 2007 to June 2012 using the U.S. mail. Benoit ordered the steroids online and paid for the drugs using money wires or debit cards to foreign accounts.  The indictment lists five such orders delivered from China to Jennings from January 2011 to February 2012.  Benoit and his co-conspirators would then take the powdered steroids from the packages, liquefy them, and place them into vials for sale.  One of the co-conspirators, Regan Chase Benoit, 26, also of Jennings and Christopher Benoit’s first cousin, approached Christopher Benoit in 2010 to purchase steroids.  Regan Benoit admitted he later assisted his cousin in liquefying the powder steroids for distribution.  Regan Benoit pleaded guilty to steroid importation, possession, and distribution charges on September 5, 2013.

Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Jennings Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett L. Grayson prosecuted the case.