PHF Supplements, Celtic Labs, Purity Solutions Owners Under DEA Investigation

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The owners of PHF Supplements, Celtic Labs and Purity Solutions are reportedly under active investigation by the DEA. The investigation started in 2012 and their home was raided earlier this year. They have previously been under DEA investigation as owners of Liquid Research in 2004.

http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/crime_police/article_8a00eda8-c93c-11e6-8c84-df7e2b60504c.html (DEA targets steroid ring said to be operating out of north shore warehouse)

BY JIM MUSTIAN
DEC 23, 2016 - 4:45 PM

Federal authorities have ramped up a four-year-old investigation into a local couple accused of running a large-scale anabolic steroid distribution ring out of a north shore warehouse.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raided the couple's Mandeville home earlier this year and recently carried out a series of search warrants targeting the organization's online sales and social media accounts, according to federal court filings.

The couple, Edward and Natalie Barton, have been suspected of trafficking illegal steroids for more than a decade, having been arrested in 2004 in connection with what Jefferson Parish authorities described as the largest drug laboratory they had encountered.

Those charges ultimately were not pursued, and several years later, prosecutors in St. Tammany Parish similarly dropped a series of felony drug counts against Edward Barton.

The feds have not filed any charges in the current probe, said Arthur "Buddy" Lemann III, a veteran defense attorney who represents Natalie Barton.

"I think the DEA is on thin ice," Lemann said Friday, referring to the strength of the evidence. "We're not talking about heroin or cocaine. We're not even talking about marijuana. We're talking about body-building medicine."

The DEA suspects the Bartons and their associates have run afoul of several federal statutes governing the branding of drugs and the distribution of Schedule III substances — laws that have been circumvented at times by manufacturers who alter the chemical makeup of regulated anabolic steroids to create compounds known as analogues.

Anabolic steroids are synthetic variants of the hormone testosterone and are used by body-builders and athletes seeking to enhance their performance. Federal authorities have outlawed the substances because they can lead to serious health problems, are often mislabeled and are sometimes produced in unsanitary labs overseas.

The investigation into the Bartons began in October 2012 and has included undercover purchases of steroids, both online and in person, and the surveillance of a warehouse the couple used to manufacture, package and ship steroids around the globe, according to a search warrant.

The Bartons are suspected of ordering bulk powders from Shanghai, China, using that material to make analogue anabolic steroids and then selling the drugs around the United States, Great Britain and Australia.

"Pursuant to trash pulls, my team has recovered invoices and other documents showing shipments of these substances all over the world," Brian Phillips, a DEA task force officer, wrote in a 45-page application for the search warrant.

Natalie Barton is suspected of overseeing "all incoming shipments of bulk raw powder, whether she personally receives them at her home address or whether they are received by other members of the organization," the warrant says.

At one point, the investigation took agents to Salt Lake City, where they had the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory test more than a dozen substances secretly purchased from the Bartons.

The bulk of the organization's business appears to have been conducted online, including through some websites that are now defunct and an online forum the couple used to promote their products. But the feds also monitored a now-shuttered store called PHF Supplements that the Bartons ran on Veterans Boulevard in Metairie, a business accused of selling anabolic steroids in addition to other supplements.

Staff writer Faimon A. Roberts III contributed to this report.
 

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This place was there not long ago .. it shut down and it's a Louisiana walking and jogging clothing store now
 
I remember this forum ! Their store was great . Mechabol,ultradol, epi. H-drol.. all those "Prohormones" were great.

Every time they will get a new formula so they can be able so sell over the counter..
They were a step ahead always changing formula those good days hah
 
Federal and state prosecutors did not pursue and/or dropped the charges from the 2004 investigation.
what do you think the contributing factors to the charges not being persued happened to be? cooperation for larger prey? the small changes to the steroid to become 'analogues of' prevented further action?

it is interesting that an operation like that would be able to walk away from prosecution free and clear.
 
what do you think the contributing factors to the charges not being persued happened to be? cooperation for larger prey? the small changes to the steroid to become 'analogues of' prevented further action?

it is interesting that an operation like that would be able to walk away from prosecution free and clear.
I don't know. If I were to guess, they were disappointed because the 2004 case didn't involve any controlled substances.
 
I hate seeing my tax dolor go toward dea lol.. Zmaybe go after cocain and meth and those type ofdrugs.. Since when aas made someone not work or fuckup there lifes lol
 
I always thought they only sold gray area stuff that wasn't technically banned. Is this saying that they sold controlled substances?
 
Btw they are being investigated for selling prohormones and injectable research oils like trest.

Not for any scheduled substances, more along the lines of selling unbranded medicines like many other ph companies
 
board administration has posted a statement in regards to the above, if anyone is interested.

http://prohormoneforum.com/index.php/topic/91624-important-message-from-ba
 
This case is still going on....

Natalie Barton has pleaded guilty. Edward Barton apparently died. Does anyone know what happened to him?


Mandeville woman facing charges in steroid selling operation pleads to lesser charge​

BY SARA PAGONES
NOV 20, 2020 - 6:15 PM

Natalie Barton's attorney, Buddy Lemann III, said that she had been facing a sentence of as much as 40 years.

By pleading guilty to the single count, she now faces three years or less when she is sentenced in March, he said, and she's already served almost half that time. "We're very satisfied with the outcome of the case," he said.

Barton, 42, and her now-deceased husband, E. B. Barton, had been a target of law enforcement attention for 16 years. They were first arrested in Jefferson Parish in 2004 in connection with what Jefferson Parish authorities said was the largest drug laboratory they'd seen. Those charges were dropped.

But in 2012, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency opened an investigation into the couple's online business. Four years later, they raided the Bartons' Mandeville home and carried out search warrants aimed at their social media accounts and online sales.

The ramp-up of the case against the Bartons occurred after a federal law in 2014 changed the definition of anabolic steroids to include drugs or substances created with the intent of promoting muscle growth or that have an effect similar to testosterone.

Source: Mandeville woman facing charges in steroid selling operation pleads to lesser charge
 


Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Eastern District of Louisiana



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Mandeville Woman Pleads Guilty To Distributing Prescription Medication​


NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that NATALIE BARTON, age 41, of Mandeville, Louisiana, pled guilty on November 18, 2020 to one count of misbranding prescription drugs, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(a) and 333(a)(2).

Court records indicate that BARTON and her husband distributed prescription medications through websites and in a brick-and-mortar store. These prescription drugs were dispensed without valid prescriptions issued by licensed practitioners, and without labels that complied with the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Instead, these substances included labels that were misleading, in that they stated that the substances were not for human consumption, which was false. BARTON and E.B. were not practitioners licensed by law to administer prescription drugs.

If convicted, BARTON faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 3 years of imprisonment followed by up to 1 year of supervised release on the anabolic-steroid conspiracy count and a $100.00 special assessment fee.

U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations in investigating this matter. U.S. Attorney Strasser expressed appreciation for the support provided by the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Shih is in charge of the prosecution

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”). OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
 

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This case is still going on....

Natalie Barton has pleaded guilty. Edward Barton apparently died. Does anyone know what happened to him?


Mandeville woman facing charges in steroid selling operation pleads to lesser charge​

BY SARA PAGONES
NOV 20, 2020 - 6:15 PM

Natalie Barton's attorney, Buddy Lemann III, said that she had been facing a sentence of as much as 40 years.

By pleading guilty to the single count, she now faces three years or less when she is sentenced in March, he said, and she's already served almost half that time. "We're very satisfied with the outcome of the case," he said.

Barton, 42, and her now-deceased husband, E. B. Barton, had been a target of law enforcement attention for 16 years. They were first arrested in Jefferson Parish in 2004 in connection with what Jefferson Parish authorities said was the largest drug laboratory they'd seen. Those charges were dropped.

But in 2012, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency opened an investigation into the couple's online business. Four years later, they raided the Bartons' Mandeville home and carried out search warrants aimed at their social media accounts and online sales.

The ramp-up of the case against the Bartons occurred after a federal law in 2014 changed the definition of anabolic steroids to include drugs or substances created with the intent of promoting muscle growth or that have an effect similar to testosterone.

Source: Mandeville woman facing charges in steroid selling operation pleads to lesser charge

Holy shit Man! Memory lane! I used to be on that forum over a decade ago! But he had some kind of terrible health condition man. I remember getting an email one night super late that his wife sent to all the long time users explaining his death, losing the house and cars. How they were basically getting fucked but ended with a huge thank you for all of us being part of PHF during the time he was alive.

The forum was still around for about another half year if I remember correctly after his death. Then it was removed from the fave of the earth. I had the same handle then too. It’s stuck with me since. Some sad fucking shit man.
 
Holy shit Man! Memory lane! I used to be on that forum over a decade ago! But he had some kind of terrible health condition man. I remember getting an email one night super late that his wife sent to all the long time users explaining his death, losing the house and cars. How they were basically getting fucked but ended with a huge thank you for all of us being part of PHF during the time he was alive.

The forum was still around for about another half year if I remember correctly after his death. Then it was removed from the fave of the earth. I had the same handle then too. It’s stuck with me since. Some sad fucking shit man.

Archived from Wayback Machine: I Am Sad To Announce Ba Passed Away Yesterday - Forum Updates

I Am Sad To Announce Ba Passed Away Yesterday​

Started by BoardAdmin , May 19 2017 03:56 AM

Hello Members
This is Mrs. BA (Natalie Barton) and I am devastated to announce that my beloved husband passed away yesterday morning at 8:30am....I will post more or answer more questions as they come in but I wanted to paste my message given to family and friends on facebook here. Also I just wanted to say that BA gave his heart to this forum. He had the time of his life talking to his members and researching so many new compounds for you all. If DASCA had never passed he would have still been here every day being BA and giving the world so many great products to help each one of you reach your goals and be a "bigger" better you. After his sister passed away 2 years ago and then after losing his number one supplier.....he stopped coming around. He didn't have it in his heart to post anything new without having anything new to give to the community. He was just starting to come around and talk about some new innovation when he had that scare last year when he almost died because of low potassium levels. We were focusing on his health and rebuilding and renewing after such a close call when just a few months later the DEA raided us and that is really when things started coming to an end. We have just recently been working with our customers at Purity Solutions to improve relationships tarnish through the recent issues and we started making a plan once again. I blame the US government for their excessive actions against us when we never have been found guilty of any crime the 2 raids before....they came and did this last shit and pushed us too far this time. We already won a big piece of this last farce by forcing them to return our Hummer and 2 Canams....they still claim to be investigating us but we all know the evidence they never had. BA was doing well and working on turning his life and health around and the raid caused us to sit around, stop riding our bicycles 10 miles like we were every day, and we started to drink more from the stresses that were caused. We had follow up appointments with doctors, tests and bloodwork that were never had ALL because we were basically stripped of transportation and our will and image attempted to be drug through the mud and push everything we built to the ground. BA would never go out without a fight though. He was a fighter and wonderful person to the very end. Now it is in my hands to seek restitution and will keep operating our business and forum in honor of his memory. This part of my post is to be continued.....my post to members, friends and family pasted below:

I lost my husband, https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/eddie.barton.376?fref=mentions (Eddie Barton), (my best friend and soul mate) yesterday morning at 8:30am to sudden onset of pancreatitis. He started getting sick Mother's Day morning and I called 911 later in the evening against his wishes. My daughter and boyfriend went with him to the ER bc I was so physically exhausted and we really thought he was working himself up and would at most need fluids and even get his stomach x-rayed because he was complaining of cramping and pain. At 3:30am the next morning doctors told me he had pancreatitis which requires surgery to remove dead tissue from the organ but that he was too sick to survive the surgery. His vitals declined so suddenly and the only option was to get him on IV medicine and fluids and let his body fight the infection and wait it out to see how he would respond. He wasn't conscious by the time I got to his room in ICU monday morning as they had to put him out to trach him for breathing because he had been hyperventilating since earlier that day. They wouldn't let anyone in his room until I arrived and when Promise and I first walked in to see him on life support he flat lined after only a few min of us walking in the room. We was flat lined for 10 min but they revived him and he stabilized for hours but he flatline again and the second time was 15 min. He wasn't expected to live through the first night but by the Grace of God he held on long enough to be able to have Father John (a priest beloved to me and truly respected by Eddie). He was in so much pain and had tubes all over his body and it didn't even look like him but that wasn't going to stop me from kissing him and petting his face, touching his beautiful muscles, rubbing his body tenderly and holding his hand....I just wanted to crawl in the bed and lay next to him and cuddle but I would never get the chance. We thought he was going to make it Tuesday night and were hopeful and even laughing as we talked about what all we were going to do when he was better. Even his nurses said it was a miracle he made it through the first night alone. He held on long enough to have time for those that loved him most come see him and be with him and I want to thank everyone was with him and I during this time and I especially thank everyone for their loving prayers and all the prayer groups whose prayers reached the gates of Heaven on Eddie's behalf.
Father John, may he forever be blessed, was able to give him his last rights and absolution and he also baptized and confirmed him all in one beautiful and miraculous ceremony and this was a miraculous gift that I have prayed for since we first were married. For him to receive these sacraments before passing made him brand new like a new born baby no longer with the stain of sin. As he took his final breathe I know he was being held in the loving arms of our Holy Mother as she carried him to our Lord in Heaven for his new eternal life began.
He was a beautiful man inside and out and I always gave him sweet kisses all over every day showing him my devoted love. I couldn't walk past him or him past me without grabbing him and kissing him it is just how he always made me feel. He never realized his true beauty and how intelligent he really was. I could see him and believed in him and always expressed that he was loved. Nobody ever met anyone like Eddie Barton and everyone that knew him will agree with me that we never will.
He told me recently that there was no him without me and I said there was no me without him. Eddie saw the light in me and recently with the sweetest smile while I was cooking he said he couldn't wait to see me grow old. I jumped with joy and kissed him and will remember every sweet word he has ever said to me.
We have been through so much together and I never imaged I would be sitting here without him now. I carry him in my heart always and will never be without my husband within me and by my side...... but I will never get used to or even except the reality that in this mortal life I will never again be able to hold him in my arms, or see his day brightening smile or hear his one of a kind laugh that Promise and I so affectionately love. I love you, I love you, I love you Edward Barton, I love you crying this out with tears falling to the ground.......
I know Eddie is in Heaven now, this I know to the depth of my core and he was taken because God has more important work for him now. I will spend the rest of my life trying to accept and understand why he had to die this way, why he had to suffer and why take him just when we were starting to relearn how to live. He was my teammate and partner here on earth and with him I felt like I could do anything, be anything. Nobody ever met a couple quite like us.....he was truly my other half.....and half of me died yesterday, half of my heart now gone leaving a big hole in my chest, half of my soul ripped away from me leaving me soul sick with no cure to be found. I sit here feeling lost trying to piece together why this happened so suddenly and after everything we have learned and shared we just talked about how this next chapter of our lives have begun and looking forward to so much that we had left to do and now we weren't going to waste any of it. He became the man I knew he was destined to be and I was so proud that this beautiful man belonged to me. I kissed him all over every day and made sure he knew how much love I have for him and lucky I was to be his wife.
I just hope to honor him in every way as we come together to celebrate his life. 17 1/2 years I have loved this man and now he is gone. I am devastated, heartbroken, confused and exhausted and don't know how to even breathe without him here at my side. Not everyone is so lucky to find their soul mate and I don't believe that anyone in this life had a love so deep as the love we shared. Eddie Barton was a man of so much "character" and to his loved ones he was a man who went by many personas or names. To me he was my best friend, my dear husband, my partner in life and what a wonderful life together was have shared, my partner in business and what a success every business venture together had become, mate of my soul for the rest of my life, my other half, he was me and he fondly told me that I was also him......he was everything to me!
To everyone else he was also a son, grandson, father, brother, Uncle, nephew, cousin and friend. He was a mentor and leader and was so happy to help anyone, everyone even if he just met them his spirit and kindness was given, a friend and to every one of Eddie's friends he was the very best and most unique friend.
He leaves behind two beautiful daughters, my step daughter https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/layna.gregoire?fref=mentions (Layna Gregoire) and our daughter https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/promise.grace.79?fref=mentions (Promise Grace). Our niece, https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/jade.barton.39?fref=mentions (Jade Barton) may not be technically his daughter but I'm sure she will agree that he is the best dad she has ever had. Promise and Jade, poor babies were there with him every minute in the hospital to the very end. But he is also "dad" to 2 very important teenage boys, https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/victor.harris.712?fref=mentions (Victor Harris) and https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/trace.moore.5?fref=mentions (Trace Moore).....he was the dad they never had and also their best friend......my husband just told me days before his passing that these boys were his best friends and being their mentor these past months has been the happiest I've seen Eddie in any friendships he has had in our years together. He is brother to Ponce Barton Jr., grandson of Margorie Corcoran and son of Ponce and https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/lauriecorcoranbarton?fref=mentions (Laurie Corcoran-Barton). He is beloved Uncle Eddie, loved and respected by each one of his nephews and nieces, https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/daniel.barton.5648?fref=mentions (Daniel Barton), https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/barton.devin96?fref=mentions (Devin Barton), https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007721535832&fref=mentions (Courtney Lynn), Ponce Mason, Trinity, Zack, Stephen, https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006926356345&fref=mentions (Nicholas Leach), https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/anna.leach.96?fref=mentions (Anna Leach), https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/caroline.leach.77?fref=mentions (Caroline Leach), Olivia Leach, https://web.archive.org/web/20170606102037/https://www.facebook.com/ben.leach.1293?fref=mentions (Ben Leach), Evelyn and Joshua.
Please pray for my family as we mourn this most grievous loss! Goodnight Eddie my love....eternal kisses from your devoted and loving wife
Posted 28 May 2017 - 07:22 AM

Oh I am still writing our story and I am not finished fighting the good fight against this last attack on us. My husband had a close call last year and we were riding our bikes 10 miles per day and had a new lease on life. A few months after the raid in June 2016 when we were being called in to meet with attorneys and appear before a grand jury that never was actually there every time we jumped through hoops and stressed to make it to the New Orleans federal building week after week...without a vehicle was beyond irritating so we just stopped riding, stopped caring about our health in general. I directly contribute his stress levels, inability to go to and from doctor follow up due to lack of transportation and lack of funds (because they seized all of our vehicles and the direct and indirect interference they had with our merchant processing accounts causing finances drop so low we had troubles just keeping food on the table)....all the unnecessary bs that would have at most resulted in misdemeanor charges....not to mention the issues we already had years ago, were the #1 factor of his passing at such an early age. We had just rejoined the gym a few months ago and trying to get back on track, I really don't understand why this happened or how it could even happen without any symptoms.
I will also be looking into everything the hospital did or didn't do from the time he went to ER to time of death. I want to look further into the close call last year and see if there was negligence on their part in diagnosing the underlying pancreatitis as they already nearly killed him within the first 24 hours because of incompetence. They had him on IV potassium and then one of the doctors ordered bicarbonate water IV because his urine was slightly acidic. The bicarbonate water was pulling the potassium from his body quicker than the IV bag was putting it in and he went from being paralyzed from the waste down to neck down...if the kidney doctor wouldn't have caught it in time no telling if he would have made it out alive then....
 

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