Man seeks dismissal of steroids conviction

ALBANY — The operator of a South Florida "wellness clinic" that steered millions of dollars worth of steroids' prescriptions to an Orlando pharmacy has asked a judge to overturn his conviction on the grounds his sentencing has been delayed for more than five years.
Michael Katzer, an attorney for Brian Schafler, 39, of Cooper City, Fla., argued Monday in Albany County Court that his client's sentencing has taken too long due to what he characterized as prosecutorial "negligence."
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Baynes said the delays in sentencing Schafler and eight other defendants who have pleaded guilty to felony charges have been a result of appeals in a related case against the pharmacy's operators. Nine people have been sentenced in the case, including two doctors who were sentenced to prison.
"How much discretion are the people going to be allowed to have?" Katzer asked Judge Stephen W. Herrick. Katzer said the delays were due to what he called "incompetency" in the district attorney's handling of the case.
Herrick has dismissed indictments against the pharmacy's operators twice, but also accepted felony pleas from numerous other defendants in the case, all of whom agreed to cooperate. Still, the judge told Baynes that prosecutors could have let the sentencings go forward with a request that their cooperation be ordered as a condition of their sentencing.
"There has to be a reasonable period of time between the conviction and the sentence," Herrick said.
Baynes cited court rulings he said that allow sentencings to be delayed for defendants who have agreed to cooperate in a related case. He also accused the timing of Katzer's motion of being motivated by a political interest in damaging District Attorney David Soares, who is up for re-election and faces a primary challenge next month.
That barb triggered a blow-up in which Katzer jumped up, turned to Baynes and yelled: "I haven't been censured three times, Mr. Baynes, like your boss has."
Katzer was referring to a recent censure of Soares by an appellate panel for remarks he made criticizing Herrick for dismissing a fifth indictment against the pharmacy operators. An appellate court later overturned the ruling and reinstated the indictment. Herrick did not rule on Katzer's motion.
Schafler and a business partner, Greg Trotta, were among 17 people who pleaded guilty in the case. They operated the now-closed Medxlife in Davie, Fla., and admitted working with a doctor, Gary Brandwein, to churn out prescriptions for people they said had no legitimate need for the drugs.
Medxlife steered about $5 million a year worth of prescriptions to Signature Compounding Pharmacy, which has been described by law enforcement officials as the centerpiece business of a wide-reaching steroids distribution network.
Medxlife was among firms that did business with Signature pharmacy and used advertisements in fitness magazines to lure customers. The firm paid Yahoo that people who used that Internet site to search for terms such as "steroids" or "testosterone" would be steered to Medxlife.
Brandwein, an osteopathic physician represented by Albany attorney Terence L. Kindlon, also pleaded guilty to a felony charge and is waiting sentencing. Trotta's attorney, Larry Rosen, has not filed a formal motion but wrote a letter to Herrick saying his client wants to join Schafler's argument.
When they pleaded guilty, Trotta and Schafler told Herrick that Brandwein allegedly knew he was prescribing drugs to people who had "no medical need" for the products.

unreal baby one i got bottles from signiture pharmacy they used fed ex to ship the gear and the gear sucked. i called about another s. florida gear joint and fedex told me you mean signiture pharmacy, well there under investigation . i said shit i might lose my cyp. i did they got raided that evening. unreal iam reliving this. anybody and everybody dont buy from florida gear places they are worse then some ugl in being very underdosed. but signitures cyp was the bomb. but thats it. someone blew them in for underdosed gear as they all do it and say its good stuff. theres only one way to go and thats if u ask them if they can get watson cyp and if they say no u walk but one in north florida has the money to get all legitatimate products but u pay a arm and leg. 199$ for 10ml vial that was back in 2003./

199 for 10ml??? wow!! bro...i;ll hook you up fro 190!!! thats what pals do!!!

^ ILL EVEN DO YOU A BETTER DEAL UNCLEM - A 10 ML BOTTLE FOR $189 :) HAA!

THOSE PRICES ARE CRAZY! I REMEMBER MY ROOMMATE PAYING $250 FOR 1 BOTTLE OF BROVEL TEST 200. O U C H !!!

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Originally Posted by O2BESOHUGE

^ ILL EVEN DO YOU A BETTER DEAL UNCLEM - A 10 ML BOTTLE FOR $189 :) HAA!

THOSE PRICES ARE CRAZY! I REMEMBER MY ROOMMATE PAYING $250 FOR 1 BOTTLE OF BROVEL TEST 200. O U C H !!!

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dude...your such a price hore!!! ($188.)