Newton Police Department PHOTO
08.06.2015

When Your Local Cops Are Steroid Dealers, Part 1 – The Newton Police Department

The use of anabolic steroids by law enforcement officers appears to be relatively widespread based on the number and frequency of arrests and investigations reported in the news. Some apologists may say that cops on steroids isn’t such a bad thing. After all, steroids are performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) that make cops bigger, faster and stronger. Isn’t that a good thing when it comes to giving them an advantage in their fight against dangerous criminals?

However, the real problem arises due to the fact that the non-medical use of anabolic steroids is almost always illegal. And cops are public servants who have sworn to uphold the law and maintain public order. Whenever a cop uses steroids, they are usually active participants in the commission of a crime. They are breaking the law by buying steroids on the black market and they are conveniently overlooking the crimes committed by their steroid dealer. Furthermore, their involvement in the black market acquisition of steroids opens them up to corruption. Cops who become friends with dealers in the often violent drug trade is a recipe for disaster.

Cops who use steroids is one thing. But cops who deal steroids is another. When your local police officer is moonlighting as a steroid dealer, he has completely abandoned his commitment to upholding the law. He has placed himself completely above the law. The steroid/drug laws may apply to everyone else but he apparently doesn’t think they apply to him. You can’t get much worse than cops who are drug dealers.

One of the most egregious examples of a dirty cop selling steroids is the case of Sgt. Steven Santucci with the Newton Police Department in Connecticut. Santucci was living the lifestyle of a drug kingpin while earning a cop’s salary. Santucci was extravagant in his spending habits with $25,000 going to pay for a “Celebrity Cruise” and another $20,000 or so for an African safari. He charged his credit cards for over $300,000 in travel expense, including $111,000 on luxury hotels and resorts alone, that included extravagant European and African vacations.

It was only a matter of time before the law caught up with him.

In May 2015, Santucci was arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribute a Schedule III controlled substance (anabolic steroids) as the result of an investigation codenamed “Operation Juice Box”. Apparently, one of Santucci’s friends or colleagues didn’t care for the cop’s flaunting of his lavish drug-funded lifestyle. They decided to send an anonymous letter reporting him to his superiors.

Santucci imported raw steroid powders from China and used them to manufacture steroids for the two underground laboratories (UGLs) that he operated – Crox Gear and V Labs. Santucci may have deluded himself into thinking that he was untouchable. He was wrong.

The investigation found no shortage of evidence linking Santucci to a large-scale steroid manufacturing operation. For one thing, Santucci had purchased an industrial pill press to manufacture tablets for oral steroids like Dianabol, Winstrol, Anadrol and oxandrolone. Any cop should know that the sale of commercial pill presses is a mandatory report item. Pill press vendors are legally required to automatically send the buyer’s information to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Furthermore, Santucci left a paper trail a mile long. He had recorded over $300,000 in cash deposits to his bank account between 2011 and 2014. This could not be explained by Santucci’s modest cop’s salary. Prosecutors claim the massive amounts of cash was generated from the sale of steroids.

If convicted, Santucci faces several years in prison. Unfortunately, the case of the steroid-dealing cop is not at all a rare occurrence.

In the next installment, we will explore the case of former Philadelphia Police detective Keith Gidelson. Gidelson moonlighted as an official distributor of Sciroxx brand steroids products.

The Complete Series: When Your Local Cops Are Steroid Dealers

 

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