Justin Smith, Designer Steroid Conspiracy, California 2021

Justin Smith, 35, of Batesville, Arkansas, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2021, to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances in a case involving the distribution of designer anabolic steroids.

Smith admitted that he sold designer steroids that he marketed as “dietary supplements” through his online store, Legendary Supplements. According to court documents, Smith distributed more than 60,000 capsules of illegal steroids to consumers in 2015 and 2016.

Smith also admitted that he knew the distribution of such products was illegal under the Controlled Substances Act and the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2014 (DASCA). He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12.

Lenaard Shemtob, 39, of Los Angeles, California, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to sell controlled substances. Shemtob owned and controlled Strong Supplements LLC, an online company that sold bodybuilding supplements containing designer steroids.

The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation investigated the cases, and the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch is prosecuting the cases with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

The Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2014 (DASCA) amended the Controlled Substances Act to include designer steroids. Dietary supplement products that contain steroids are illegal controlled substances.

Smith and Shemtob both stated that they purchased the designer steroids they sold from Blackstone Labs LLC, a corporation based in Boca Raton, Florida. Blackstone Labs and seven other defendants were previously charged by indictment in connection with a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

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