Another steroid case for the hypocritical and fradulent Mets

cream, Funny how you frame your arguments. I didn't say a word about what Arnold did or what he was sentenced for. I talked specifically about the law and how FDA approval works. Are you arguing that it ISN'T illegal to distribute steroids--including designer steroids the Feds don't know about yet? Please go ahead and make that argument and tell me how clueless I am again.

I don't care if Arnold pled himself down to a jaywalking charge. It doesn't change what he ACTUALLY did--the guy developed Norbethone (or revived it) and THG and DMT and all were illegal to distribute under U.S. law. The grand jury indicted him under three conspiracy counts, including conspiring with Victor Conte to distribute THG (which WAS illegal--under US law and under FDA rules, whether the FDA knew specifically about THAT steroid). In exchange for his plea bargain, they dropped two of the conspiracy counts. It doesn't mean he didn't develop THG or that developing a designer steroid was legal or distributing it was legal. None of those things are legal, as much as a bunch of drug dealers wish they were.

 

FB, Maybe. But it doesn't change what Patrick Arnold and Victor Conte and James Valente and Greg Anderson did... They were drug dealers. They developed steroids (that are illegal for distribution without FDA approval and without a doctor's prescription for legitimate medical use if the FDA approves the drug, under U.S. law) and they ran a business in which they provided those steroids to people, including some very high profile athletes. They sold illegal drugs for money. It's really that simple. I understand some people think this is a bigger deal than others, but it is still fact.

It doesn't really matter how successful a prosecutor thought he might be proving it in a prolonged and expensive trial. All the evidence of this that has come to light, including what was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and the book, lifted any doubt most people have about what those men did, and about the athletes they were hooking up with performance-enhancing drugs. And whether or not the Feds stuck it to each of them for long prison sentences, they still all did plead guilty to various steroid-distribution charges. They are all admitted drug dealers and convicted felons.

 

I'm confused. Why did the men I mentioned plead guilty to felonies? And isn't there sometimes a disconnect between what a Federal prosecutor can prove in a court of law and what a criminal may actually have done? Either way, I'm still confused. Why did those men plead guilty to felonies, if there is nothing to the Balco/athletes story, as you seem to be suggesting (if you're not suggesting that, please clarify)?