The girlfriend of one of the co-defendants in the Brandon Millay (Kong Labs) steroid case has been indicted by a federal grand jury for hiding anabolic steroids from federal agents during the investigation. Mary Kay Hamilton, along with her boyfriend Jimmie Lynn Garrison, allegedly “concealed and covered up anabolic steroids from United States Postal Inspection Service and Food and Drug Administration agents investigting the illegal distribution of anabolic steroids” according the additional charge filed by federal prosecutors on July 8, 2009. Hamilton allegedly helped Garrison obstruct the federal investigation on or about May 6, 2008 shortly after the Brandon Millay steroid ring was busted in April 2008 (“Owensboro couple charged in steroid investigation,” July 9).
Jimmie Garrison was indicted along with three other co-conspirators in December 2008 on various steroid-related charges. Brandon Millay, the alleged ringleader, is the only defendant to have pleaded guilty thus far; Millay has agreed to completely and truthfully cooperate with the government by testifying before any grand juries and trials upon demand.
Mary Hamilton initially appeared to have escaped prosecution. However, federal prosecutors decided to include her name in the superceding indictment shortly before Brandon Millay was scheduled to be sentenced and prior to the other co-defendants going to trial.
It is unclear why the U.S. Attorney’s Office waited so long to indict Hamilton although the federal government has been known to intimidate and pressure the families of defendants. In some steroid cases, federal prosecutors have been accused of using spouses and girlfriends as bargaining chips to influence cooperation, testimony and/or plea agreements by defendants.
Chris Navoy, while technically not a steroid case but was unfairly reported as such, accused the government of “blackmailing” him into a plea agreement. He reported accepting a 27 months prison sentence and $2 million dollars forfeiture in order to protect his wife and family.
The government plea offer was a single conspiracy count and a significant forfeiture in exchange for ALL 7 COUNTS DROPPED against Jennifer. She will have NO CRIMINAL HISTORY and has only to complete one year of pre-trial diversion.
In summation, I had the option of guaranteed pre-trial diversion for Jennifer or exposing her to a Federal grand jury that could possibly perceive the law differently then its written. The public perception of steroids is profoundly negative and this case caught major media attention due to unfounded allegations of steroid and HGH sales. I agreed to forfeitures that pre-date the above listed products by as much as three years. At one point, the government sought seizure of a car that I purchase in 1988 and still own. In fact, the bulk of our estate pre-dates any of the “questionable” sales the government charged us with. In short, the government wanted assets even proven to be from undisputed sales. In addition, funds generated by my hours as an RN in the Fort Walton Beach ER, Jennifer’s work as a PT, and her work in a club were forfeited. As hard as you might find it to believe, it was relatively easy to allow the government to take our assets to protect my family.
The federal government has been known to go to incredible lengths targeting spouses and relatives to pressure defendants to cooperate, testify and/or plead guilty. One of the most egregious cases involved attempts to obtain the testimony of BALCO defendant Greg Anderson in the government’s perjury case against baseball player Barry Bonds (“Desperate Prosecutors Use Blatant Intimidation to Pressure Greg Anderson to Testify Against Barry Bonds,” February 10).
The day after Anderson was released from prison for contempt of court, his wife Nicole Gestas received an intimidating target letter from prosecutors threatening to charge her with criminal conspiracy to commit a crime if she did not agree to cooperate with the feds. The U.S. Attorney’s office had already assigned an undercover agent to join the Powerhouse Gym in Redwood City where Gestas is employed while her husband was in prison. The objective of the undercover agent was to befriend her and unsuspectingly encourage Gestas to talk about Barry Bonds. The covert operation was unsuccessful.
The San Francisco federal prosecutors continued their intimidation tactics when they threatened to charge Anderson’s mother-in-law with financial crimes when they raided the home of Madeleine Gestas on January 28, 2009. There was apparently a clear understanding that if Anderson testified against Barry Bonds, then the investigation against Gestas would be dropped. […]
Mark Geragos, Greg Anderson’s attorney, was ashamed of the desperate and despicable actions by the government.
“The day after Greg was released, they sent a target letter to his wife. Almost 30 days before the trial, they now execute a search warrant at his mother-in-law’s house. This is coming on the heels of a letter they wrote me two days ago, demanding to know whether or not he was contingent to testify. I’m ashamed of my government. Even the mafia spares the women and children. It’s nothing more than cheap theatrics and frankly, disgusting tactics. It’s blatant intimidation.”
Unconfirmed reports have even surfaced that investigators pressured defendant(s) indicted in the Texas steroid bust codenamed Operation Farmacia de Juicy Phruit to cooperate with federal agents with the implicit understanding that failure to do so could results in additional charges being filed against spouse(s).
The last-minute decision to indict Jimmie Garrison’s girlfriend (Mary Kay Hamilton) for “aiding and abetting; concealing a tangible object with the intent to obstruct an investigation by the United States” seems suspect to some people.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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