Computer scientist Nathan Maddock may seem like an unlikely person to operate a domestic underground laboratory (UGL) that manufactured steroids. After all, Maddock is currently employed by a technology company and earns approximately £500 a day. That’s $700 in U.S. dollars. Why would anyone with his skill set and the potential to legally earn that kind of money ever get involved in the steroid trade?
Things weren’t always going Maddock’s way. There was a period in his life when he was down on his luck and fell in with the wrong crowd according to his attorney. Andrew Taylor, the barrister representing Maddock, told the Cardiff Crown Court that his client as a victim who was pressured to join a “Mafia-like” steroid trafficking organization that distributed steroids domestically in the United Kingdom.
Maddock was actually relieved, if his version of events is to be believed, when he was arrested because it gave him the opportunity to escape the clutches of the people he was working for. Maddock insisted he was pressured to work for the steroid trafficking organization. He initially refused but eventually relented and agreed to help out. It was a decision that he “bitterly regrets” according to Taylor.
“This is a highly unusual case and he is a highly unusual defendant,” Taylor told Judge Michael Fitton QC.
“[Maddock] agreed to offer some assistance. It is akin to joining the Mafia, Once you are in it is impossible to get out.”
Maddock agreed to receive the raw steroid powder and other materials at his residence at the direction of another member in the international steroid organization. Maddock refused to identify the person or persons that he worked for. Nonetheless, prosecutors accepted that Maddock was part of a larger conspiracy.
Maddock wanted to stop manufacturing steroids but the bad guys he was working for would not allow it. Maddock ended up operating the domestic UK UGL for a period of six years. The police put an end to his involvement when they arrested him on November 16, 2016.
Maddock’s failure to pay the rent on a storage unit where he stored large quantities of finished steroid vials led to his downfall. Maddock’s attorney seemingly suggested it was an act of self-sabotage because Maddock wanted to get caught.
A police investigation quickly led to one of Maddock’s properties that was used exclusively as a clandestine laboratory to manufacture steroids. Police found additional steroids along with materials used in the production of steroids at the house. The total value of the steroid seizure was estimated at £436,344.95.
Maddock profited substantially from his (supposedly unwilling) involvement in the steroid organization. Maddock had £80,000 in his bank accounts at the time of his arrest. He also used the substantial proceeds to purchase an apartment and a house in Bulgaria and Turkey, respectively. He also laundered the proceeds in various rental properties in Wales.
Maddock pleaded guilty to ten counts of possessing anabolic steroids with intent to supply and one count of acquiring criminal property. He was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison.
Computer scientist Nathan Maddock claimed to be pressured into operating UK domestic UGL for 6 years by steroid mafia
Source:
Day, L. (February 23, 2018). Dad-of-two made £430,000 of steroids in an underground laboratory and used the cash to buy houses abroad. Retrieved from walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/dad-two-made-430000-steroids-14325995