The 5-Star Pharma owner agrees to forfeit his vehicle, his guns, and almost half a million dollars in cash.
The identity of the man who manufactured and sold anabolic steroids under the “5 Star Pharma” label has been publicly identified by federal prosecutors. Tony Goss, a 53-year old man from Hallsville (Texas), pleaded guilty to federal steroid trafficking charges on September 30, 2020.
The 5-Star Pharma bust was the subject of a video news story called “JUICED: Inside an illegal East Texas steroid factory”. Local reporters with video cameras accompanied DEA agents during the raid of the clandestine laboratory.
Local news reporters accompanied DEA agents during the 5-Star Pharma raid.
The JUICED video was produced by local NBC affiliate KETK and published online on September 27, 2019. However, the face of the man behind 5-Star Pharma was blurred out due to his cooperation in the “ongoing investigation”.
Goss operated the 5-Star Pharma underground laboratory from a commercial office that he leased from the “Community Blvd Professional Center” located at 107 Community Blvd., Suite 5, Longview, TX 75605.
Federal agents recovered a significantly quantity of anabolic steroids when they raided the facility on August 22, 2019. Hundreds of vials of injectable steroids and thousands of tablets of oral steroids were seen in the “JUICED” video some of which featured the 5-Star Pharma label.
The total quantity of steroids seized during the raid included 5,493 pills, 2,960 milliliters of injectable solution, and 4,192 grams of raw steroid powder.
Goss admitted selling at least 176,585 dosage units of steroids with proceeds of $459,285 from steroid sales. He agreed to forfeit this entire cash amount along with his vehicle (2016 Ford F-350) and several firearms including a Glock 9mm pistol, Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol, Mossberg .270 caliber rifle and a Marlin .45/70 caliber rifle.
The DEA undoubtedly pressured Goss for details about his steroid manufacturing operation. The feds wanted to know where the shipments originated, who was receiving them, and how it was distributed including locally and via the Internet.
Jeff Kennamer, the Supervisory Special Agent for the Tyler DEA office, told JUICED producers that the arrest of the UGL owner was only the beginning of the investigation.
“We can’t just stop right here and say okay we seized a manufacturing facility for steroids that’s great,” Kennamer explained. “We need to know where the shipments were coming from, from overseas, who all was receiving shipments of steroids, how much were they receiving, is this stuff being distributed in the local gyms in Longview, Tyler or East Texas.”
Goss could face up to 10 years in federal prison. However, he will likely receive a much, much shorter sentence. The actual sentence that Goss receives will depend on the sentencing guidelines, and other statutory factors such as his degree of cooperation with investigators.