Erik Harald Moje, Anabolic Steroid Importation, California 2024

FRESNO, Calif. — Erik Harald Moje, 40, of Turlock, admitted in federal court today to orchestrating a cross-border steroid smuggling ring, importing kilos of anabolic steroids from China while operating under the cover of his law practice. The licensed attorney and self-proclaimed professional bodybuilder pleaded guilty to one count of importation of a controlled substance, capping a two-year federal investigation that uncovered hidden stashes, encrypted communications, and illicit cash flows.

Anabolic steroids—synthetic variants of testosterone—are classified as Schedule III controlled substances under federal law, illegal to possess without a prescription. Between December 1, 2013, and September 1, 2015, Moje bypassed all legal channels, purchasing bulk shipments directly from a Chinese supplier. Court records show he used encrypted emails to coordinate deliveries and directed payment deposits into the bank account for the Law Office of Eric Moje—blurring the line between legal practice and criminal enterprise.

Moje didn’t ship the drugs to his doorstep. Instead, he funneled packages through a UPS mail-forwarding service in New York and enlisted private couriers across the country to obscure the trail. But federal agents caught up in May 2015, intercepting a parcel containing one kilogram of liquid anabolic steroids—equal to 40,000 individual dosage units. That seizure was just the beginning.

By September 2015, investigators executed a search warrant at Moje’s Turlock residence. Behind a false wall in the garage, they uncovered a stockpile: 538 10-milliliter vials of liquid steroids (10,760 dosage units) and 17,700 capsules (17,700 dosage units). They also seized $29,925 in cash—tangible evidence of a black-market trade operating under the veneer of legitimacy.

In his guilty plea, Moje agreed to forfeit his Turlock home. The seized cash and a BMW linked to the operation were previously forfeited. The case emerged from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) probe, part of Operation Cyber Juice—a nationwide crackdown on steroid trafficking rings tied to domestic and international suppliers. Agencies involved included the DEA, U.S. Marshals, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and local police from Turlock and Modesto.

Moje is scheduled for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on May 15, 2017. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine. While the final sentence rests with the court, the evidence—encrypted emails, hidden caches, and laundered payments—paints a damning picture of a man who used his legal credentials to fuel a criminal underground.