An Australian man who got into a bar brawl over a teddy bear has admitted using anabolic steroids.
Sam Gallo was sentenced to 12-months of community service and ordered to pay a $1,100 fine after being convicted of possessing a prohibited drug (anabolic steroids). Gallo admitted using steroids because he felt he was too small and had trouble gaining muscle mass.
Gallo was caught after local police pulled him over for driving with a broken tail light and a missing front license plate in December 2019. Gallo behaved very suspiciously to police. He was scared, nervous, shaking and was having a difficult time speaking properly. The police found a sharps container and steroids in his glove compartment.
Gallo pleaded guilty to possessing steroids in the Wollongong Local Court in February 2020.
Sam Gallo went into a rage over a man’s stuffed teddy bear in 2018.
The steroid incident was not the first time Gallo ran afoul of the law. Gallo was arrested after he instigated a bar brawl on February 11, 2018. Gallo became enraged after seeing a man with a stuffed teddy bear at the Corrimal Hotel Sports Bar.
Gallo was one of three men who confronted Michael Gross about his teddy bear. Gross brought the teddy bear as a gift for a friend. Gallo repeatedly poked and touched the teddy bear despite Gross’ protests.
Gallo wanted to know the name of the teddy bear. But Gallo did not like it when he was told that the teddy bear’s name was “Fuck all of you”.
Gallo started punching and wrestling with Gross. Gross ended up on the ground where Gallo bashed him with two bar stools. One of the bar stools connected with Gross’s head and resulted in a large gash above Gross’s eye. Gross was taken to the hospital where doctors closed the laceration with stitches.
Gallo successfully appealed a four-month prison sentence for instigating the bar brawl. He was alternatively given an intensive corrections order that involved mandatory attendance to court-ordered psychological treatment.
Matthew Ward, the attorney representing Gallo on the steroid possession charge, acknowledged that Gallo has serious “underlying issues” with “anger management”. Furthermore, the use of steroids was a bad idea given his psychological problems.
Magistrate Jillian Kiely agreed that steroids would not help his anger management problems.
“One of the main issues he’s been addressing with the psychologist is anger management,” Magistrate Keily said. “Taking anabolic steroids won’t assist that at all.”
Gallo was still able to avoid going to jail. Magistrate Kiely decided that a 12-month community corrections order with continued psychological treatment was adequate punishment in his case.
