Private Label Busted After Powder Receiver Snitched

Police identify husband and wife team that operated the underground laboratory known as Private Label.

Nicholas Gilbertson and Cori Gilbertson have been identified as the husband-and-wife team who operated an underground laboratory from a hidden room located in their Hidden Valley (Indiana) home. The announcement was made by Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens on June 10, 2019.

“Because of communications and shared investigation, a large lab was shut down. The sheer quantity of steroids that were allegedly being made and sold through a suburban residence, going undetected for a significant period of time is alarming,” said Deddens.

Nicholas and Cori Gilbertson were each charged with seven counts of “Dealing/Manufacturing Anabolic Steroids (level 2 felony)”, “Possession of a Legend Drug” and “Maintaining a Common Nuisance”.

The charges arise from the execution of a search warrant by the Indiana State Police (ISP) on their home located on Brookridge Circle in Hidden Valley on March 4, 2019.

The March 2019 raid resulted in the discovery of a secret room hidden behind a bookcase. The secret room served as the clandestine laboratory where they manufactured anabolic steroid injectable and oral products. Police seized 25,000 pills and 1,200 vials of injectable steroids.

The clandestine laboratory was identified as Private Label by Brotherhood of Pain moderators.

Moderators on the internet forum known as “Brotherhood of Pain” quickly identified the operation as the U.S. domestic source Private Label.

The Gilbertsons allegedly imported large quantities of raw steroid powder from China. But they hired at least one individual to assume the risk of receiving the international shipments. The “receiver” was paid $100 for each package collected.

When agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and Homeland Security intercepted a package containing raw steroid powder, it was the beginning of the end for Private Label, and Nicholas and Cori Gilbertson.

Customs passed on the information to the Indiana State Police (ISP). The ISP in conjunction with the Hamilton County Drug Abuse Reduction Task Force arranged a controlled delivery of the parcel to an address in the Greater Cincinnati area.

It turns out that hiring “receivers” as a security precaution is often an exercise in futility. This is especially true when the receivers are paid such paltry sums to assume such risk. The receiver promptly snitched on his employers.

The recipient admitted that he was a receiver for the Gilbertsons. He described how he was paid $100 per parcel to receive deliveries and drop them off at the Gilbertsons place of work in Fairfield (Ohio).

The information provided by the receiver quickly led investigators to the Gilbertsons.

The Gilbertsons have been incarcerated in the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center. They are each being held on a $12,500 cash bond and a $500,000 surety bond.