Federal agents raid Illinois lab linked to BALCO steroid
Chemist suspected of creating drug called 'the clear'
Mark Fainaru-Wada, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, September 30, 2005
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Federal agents Thursday raided an Illinois laboratory where the steroid that ignited the BALCO scandal is suspected to have been created -- signaling that the three-year investigation is continuing.
In raids led by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation division, search warrants were served on the Champaign, Ill., offices and home of chemist Patrick Arnold, who authorities believe produced the steroid that came to be known as "the clear" in the BALCO case.
A spokeswoman for IRS-CI's Chicago office confirmed the agency was on "official business" in Champaign but offered no further details. Lt. Ed Ogle of the Champaign County sheriff's office said his agency had assisted authorities on a raid at Proviant Technologies, Arnold's lab in downstate Illinois. And two sources with knowledge of the raids confirmed to The Chronicle that warrants had been served both on the lab and on Arnold's home.
Both IRS-CI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- the two agencies primarily involved in the raids on BALCO two years ago in Burlingame -- participated in the Illinois actions, according to Kerry Hannigan, a special agent with IRS-CI in Chicago. Hannigan said all documents related to the "official business" were sealed.
Arnold's name has been connected to the BALCO case for some time. During the September 2003 raids on BALCO, owner Victor Conte and vice president James Valente both identified Arnold as the source of the once-undetectable steroid called "the clear," according to government memorandums detailing the interviews. Conte, Valente, track coach Remi Korchemny and Greg Anderson, personal trainer for Barry Bonds, recently pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges and are awaiting sentencing next month.
Despite the plea agreements, a San Francisco federal grand jury has continued to hear testimony stemming from the BALCO probe, according to two sources familiar with Arnold and the case. In addition, just as they had in the months preceding raids on BALCO, federal agents had been digging through Arnold's trash seeking evidence, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
Neither Arnold nor his attorney responded to messages seeking comment.
Even before BALCO broke, Arnold was suspected by anti-doping officials as the man who resurrected the steroid norbolethone, a drug that was manufactured in the 1960s but never marketed to the public. The substance was discovered in the urine sample of an athlete in 2002. Based on e-mails and documents seized in the BALCO case, authorities believe norbolethone was the first generation of "the clear" distributed by Conte to elite athletes.
By the time of the BALCO raids in 2003, "the clear" was a newly designed steroid called tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG.
The various versions of "the clear" were administered by placing a couple of drops under the tongue. A 2001 e-mail from Arnold to Conte appeared to indicate the chemist was sending the BALCO chief the latest version of the substance.
"What I am sending you today is a small sample, about 5 ccs, of the supplement," Arnold wrote to Conte on Feb. 9, 2001. Arnold wrote that he had "made" very little of the substance, but there "should be enough for experimental testing. 2.5-7.5 milligram (whatever that comes out to in cc's or drops), under the tongue should be a decent dosing range."
Within the supplement industry, Arnold is known as the "father of prohormones," most famous for bringing androstenedione to the American market.
Andro, though banned by the National Football League and the Olympics because it was a steroid precursor, was popularized in 1998 when St. Louis Cardinal slugger Mark McGwire acknowledged using it during the season when he broke baseball's single-season home run record. Three years later, Bonds broke McGwire's record, and two years after that the Giants slugger became part of the evolving BALCO scandal.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/30/MNGHSF0D211.DTL
Chemist suspected of creating drug called 'the clear'
Mark Fainaru-Wada, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, September 30, 2005
* Printable Version
* Email This Article
Federal agents Thursday raided an Illinois laboratory where the steroid that ignited the BALCO scandal is suspected to have been created -- signaling that the three-year investigation is continuing.
In raids led by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation division, search warrants were served on the Champaign, Ill., offices and home of chemist Patrick Arnold, who authorities believe produced the steroid that came to be known as "the clear" in the BALCO case.
A spokeswoman for IRS-CI's Chicago office confirmed the agency was on "official business" in Champaign but offered no further details. Lt. Ed Ogle of the Champaign County sheriff's office said his agency had assisted authorities on a raid at Proviant Technologies, Arnold's lab in downstate Illinois. And two sources with knowledge of the raids confirmed to The Chronicle that warrants had been served both on the lab and on Arnold's home.
Both IRS-CI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- the two agencies primarily involved in the raids on BALCO two years ago in Burlingame -- participated in the Illinois actions, according to Kerry Hannigan, a special agent with IRS-CI in Chicago. Hannigan said all documents related to the "official business" were sealed.
Arnold's name has been connected to the BALCO case for some time. During the September 2003 raids on BALCO, owner Victor Conte and vice president James Valente both identified Arnold as the source of the once-undetectable steroid called "the clear," according to government memorandums detailing the interviews. Conte, Valente, track coach Remi Korchemny and Greg Anderson, personal trainer for Barry Bonds, recently pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges and are awaiting sentencing next month.
Despite the plea agreements, a San Francisco federal grand jury has continued to hear testimony stemming from the BALCO probe, according to two sources familiar with Arnold and the case. In addition, just as they had in the months preceding raids on BALCO, federal agents had been digging through Arnold's trash seeking evidence, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
Neither Arnold nor his attorney responded to messages seeking comment.
Even before BALCO broke, Arnold was suspected by anti-doping officials as the man who resurrected the steroid norbolethone, a drug that was manufactured in the 1960s but never marketed to the public. The substance was discovered in the urine sample of an athlete in 2002. Based on e-mails and documents seized in the BALCO case, authorities believe norbolethone was the first generation of "the clear" distributed by Conte to elite athletes.
By the time of the BALCO raids in 2003, "the clear" was a newly designed steroid called tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG.
The various versions of "the clear" were administered by placing a couple of drops under the tongue. A 2001 e-mail from Arnold to Conte appeared to indicate the chemist was sending the BALCO chief the latest version of the substance.
"What I am sending you today is a small sample, about 5 ccs, of the supplement," Arnold wrote to Conte on Feb. 9, 2001. Arnold wrote that he had "made" very little of the substance, but there "should be enough for experimental testing. 2.5-7.5 milligram (whatever that comes out to in cc's or drops), under the tongue should be a decent dosing range."
Within the supplement industry, Arnold is known as the "father of prohormones," most famous for bringing androstenedione to the American market.
Andro, though banned by the National Football League and the Olympics because it was a steroid precursor, was popularized in 1998 when St. Louis Cardinal slugger Mark McGwire acknowledged using it during the season when he broke baseball's single-season home run record. Three years later, Bonds broke McGwire's record, and two years after that the Giants slugger became part of the evolving BALCO scandal.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/30/MNGHSF0D211.DTL