Albany County District Attorney David Soares spent millions of dollars in taxpayer money on a steroid witch-hunt against athletes and entertainers. The nation’s steroid hysteria facilitated extensive news and media coverage of the sensationalistic outing of steroid users. The lack of true investigative journalism allowed a corrupt, fraudulent and incompetent prosecutor to gain national headlines as an anti-steroid crusader while recklessly misusing his political office.
Is it any wonder that our country is in deep economic trouble given that our news gatekeepers have obsessed over the use of anabolic steroids by professional athletes and entertainers rather than investigate the fraud, corruption, and incompetence of government blowhards spearheading the steroid witch hunt?
Steroid legal expert Rick Collins of Collins, McDonald and Gann forwarded a local editorial suggesting the popularity of the political opportunist known as David Soares is rapidly sinking. The dismissal of the Signature Pharmacy steroid case is the apparently the least of David Soares problems.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares was so preoccupied with the Signature Pharmacy steroid investigation in FLORIDA, the APS Pharmacy investigation in ALABAMA and numerous longevity clinics in states around the country, he was too busy to prosecute over 322 felons who had to be released from jail in HIS OWN DISTRICT in Albany County. Many of his constituents now feel that Soares should spend more time prosecuting local cases and less on the national steroid investigations (“Soares accused of letting criminals off the hook,” October 7).
Cusick says more than 300 accused felons were released from the Albany County Jail because Soares failed to prosecute them.
Cusick says he got the documents and the information through the Freedom of Information Law.
State criminal procedure law says a defendant facing felony charges must be released from jail if the case is not presented to a grand jury within 45 days.
David Soares’ office has repeatedly mismanaged and misused county funds with a flagrant disregard for appropriate legal and accounting procedures according to officials audits by the County Comptroller Michael Conners. Soares mishandling of county funds is in addition to his use of funds to fly Albany Times-Union investigative journalist (sic) Brendan Lyons and a newspaper photographer to cover the Signature Pharmacy steroid raid that was clearly unnecessary and designed only as a photo op. The County Comptroller has briefed David Soares on the “possible criminal matter” related to the audit (“Comptroller releases audit findings for DA’s office,” October 7).
Missing money is a matter of grave concern, said Albany County Comptroller Michael Conners.
Conners released his 33-page report on an audit of the Albany County District Attorney’s office that alleges evidence bags kept in a safe which should contain money were found empty. Meaning $6,195 may have been taken or is somehow missing.
Evidence was tampered with and money was stolen, said Conners.
The audit also accuses the DA’s office of misusing state forfeiture funds like $7,297 for mini flashlights and whistles with the DA’s name on them, $12,000 for T-shirts for the “enough” program, $6,000 for neighborhood watch T-shirts, $837 for 600 bags with the DA’s name on them and a $2,700 cash donation. The expenses total over $33,000.
When the media gave David Soares a free pass to waste money on a national steroid investigation, he apparently was emboldened to proceed with multiple abuses of his office. David Soares’ role in the coverup of the Eliot Spitzer Troopergate scandal is another disturbing abuse of power (“Soares Troopergate Swill,” August 6).
Albany DA David Soares yesterday sought to put the Troopergate scandal to rest, saying it would allow the state to “move on and deal with the critical issues” it faces. Oh, how he wishes.
Soares reluctantly released 8,562 pages of documents from his two Troopergate probes. The material shows how Soares & Co. treated then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his staff with kid gloves.
That fits with the findings of Soares’ first report, which totally whitewashed the role of Spitzer and his aides in the plot to use State Police to smear then-Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.
[…]
But Troopergate has grown well beyond the smear campaign.
It long ago became a scandal of coverup – and Soares’ own role in that part of the affair has yet to be addressed.
No doubt, Soares wants to “move on.” Folks with something to hide usually do.
But then again, who cares about fraud, corruption and incompetence in government? Who cares about the national and economic security of our country? Let’s go after steroid users! Steroid use is evil.
Then again, maybe our country DOES face more important issues than finding out who is using steroids? Maybe Barrack Obama’ current position on anabolic steroids is right…
Kids are watching sports. They’re modeling themselves on athletes, Obama said. It’s a serious problem, but it’s one that you want to see the leagues themselves handle in a more appropriate way. We’ve got nuclear weapons and a financial meltdown to worry about. We shouldn’t be worrying about steroids as much as I think sometimes we do.
Government fraud? Corruption? Nuclear weapons? Financial meltdown? Steroids?
Which one of these does not belong?
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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