Detective, officers named in Philadelphia steroid rung bust

Update: Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said at this morning’s press conference:

“I’ve known about this [investigation] for several months, but it was an investigation that was ongoing and as you read the indictment, you’ll see that it stretches way beyond Philadelphia.” WHYY’s Lizz Fiedler said Ramsey also talked about rooting out the city’s bad cops, saying, “You’ve gotta aggressively go after it.  We owe it to the public, we owe it to the men and women of this department that are out here every single day doing the job the right way and that is the vast, vast majority of our people.  They don’t want to be embarrassed by this crap anymore than I do.”

Original report: A Philadelphia police detective, two officers and 12 others are charged with 17 counts of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids.

Detective Keith Gidelson is charged with leading a distribution organization that reached other parts of the country, and involved selling human growth hormone from foreign suppliers.

Officers Joseph McIntyre and George Sambuca’ Gidelson’s wife, Kirsten; Robert James Walters; Jay Guiliano; Michael Supilowski; Michael Barclay; Keith Ebner; Jeffrey Filoon; Christian Kowalko; Joel Levin; Luke Lors; Williams Schiavo; and Vaidotas Verikas are also charged.

The indictment says the HGH was shipped from Europe and China, repacked by Walters and shipped to a UPS mailbox in Philadelphia where the Gidelsons sold the steroids from their home and at local fitness clubs. Gidelson is also accused of distributing the steroids through health and weightlifting websites and chatrooms.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years imprisonment, three years supervised release, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment for each count.

We’ll have more on this story later.