INS Will Seek to Deport Steroid-Smuggling Athlete

U. S. authorities will attempt to deport one-time British Olympian David A. Jenkins once he completes a prison term for his role in a ring that smuggled huge amounts of muscle-hardening steroid drugs into the United States, a federal official said in court Monday.

Deborah Nordstrom, an attorney with the U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Diego, said in U. S. District Court that the INS will probably make a formal move to deport Jenkins, a British citizen who is a permanent legal U. S. resident, within the next few months. The deportation action would proceed in immigration court after Jenkins completes his prison term.

Robert L. Grimes, the San Diego attorney who represents the one-time track star, said Jenkins, a longtime California resident, would fight deportation. The lawyer is seeking a federal court recommendation against deportation, noting, among other things, that Jenkins runs a successful vitamin-packaging concern in Oceanside.

7-Year Prison Term

Jenkins also plans to seek a reduction in the seven-year prison term imposed last month by U. S. District Judge Lawrence J. Irving. He was also fined $75,000. Judge Irving, in a hearing Monday, said he would rule on those issues at a future court session.

Federal law allows for deportation of alien felons convicted of certain crimes--notably narcotics and drug-related violations and crimes of “moral turpitude.” Authorities have used the provisions to deport a number of high-profile, foreign-born narcotics traffickers and organized-crime figures.

Jenkins, 36, once ranked among the world’s top 400-meter sprinters, anchored Great Britain’s 1,600-meter relay team to a Silver Medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Jenkins pleaded guilty to two felony counts in connection with his role in a conspiracy to produce steroids in Tijuana, smuggle the drugs across the border and distribute them throughout the United States with fake labels. U. S. prosecutors have described the ring as the largest one cracked to date in the $100-million-a-year steroid black market. About 24 defendants, including Jenkins, himself a longtime steroid user, have entered guilty pleas.