Steroids Sold Like ‘Vitamins,’ U.S. Says

An El Toro marine sergeant and his wife, accused of smuggling and selling hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal steroids, ran an operation much like a “health food store,” advertising the drugs in leaflets as though they were expensive “vitamins,” federal officials said Thursday.

Gunnery Sgt. Matthew J. Sigloch, 37, and Rene M. Sigloch, who were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of conspiracy and distribution of “counterfeit” steroids, allegedly sold the illegal substances from his office at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and stored them at their home on the military base, Assistant U.S. Atty. Joyce Fitzpatrick said.

The gunnery sergeant displayed business savvy by selling the steroids, a chemical derivative of the male sex hormone testosterone, much like vitamins, Fitzpatrick said. Federal officials declined to indicate who Sigloch’s customers were.

Asked for Cash

According to the indictment filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, Sigloch handed his customers a typed sheet, listing what steroids he was able to offer and at what price. He also asked customers for cash instead of checks because the money was harder to trace, the indictment said.

“He (Sigloch) would pull out a list and (tell) the agents what kind of possibilities he can offer to them,” Fitzpatrick said. “He ran it much like a health food store. He had leaflets listing what kind of steroids he sold, much like the way stores sell vitamins.”

According to the indictment, Sigloch and his wife were arrested on Aug. 2 by U.S. Customs Service agents in Orange County after a lengthy undercover investigation. As early as Aug. 9, 1988, the couple began smuggling illegal steroids from Mexico for sale on the black market, the indictment alleges.

Sigloch concentrated on selling “counterfeit” steroids. Such steroids still are chemical derivatives of testosterone, but they are not manufactured by U.S. drug companies and subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration controls, and are instead produced in Mexico, where controls are considered lax. They are packed in bottles with labels falsely representing that they are made in the United States, then smuggled across the border, Fitzpatrick said.

Anabolic steroids, which can cause damage to the liver, are illegal for use in the United States without a doctor’s prescription.

Sigloch, who has been stationed at the El Toro base since March, 1988, and has been on active duty in the corps since 1972, is continuing to perform his duties as a helicopter hydraulic mechanic in charge of maintaining Sea Knight helicopters, Marine Corps officials said Thursday.

Rene Sigloch is employed at the base at the housing department, according to the indictment. The couple continues to live in housing at the air station, military officials said.

There is no indication that the military is immediately considering removing Sigloch from his duties.

“We don’t have enough information to make that determination,” said Sgt. Anne Larson, an air station spokeswoman. She said that base officials will determine further action when they get more information on the case from federal investigators.

U.S. Customs Special Agent Larry Fowler said it does not appear that Sigloch sold his steroids to fellow Marines, although he did make most of his transactions out of his office and at the couple’s home. Fowler said the investigation of Sigloch and his wife began when customs agents were given a tip about steroids being smuggled across the Mexican border.

Fowler said Sigloch had customers, buyers and dealers, and partners who helped smuggle the steroids across state lines. He apparently relayed his customer’s orders on his office telephone, which is paid for by the military.

“As a further part of the conspiracy, defendant Matthew J. Sigloch abused his position of trust as a member of the United States Marine Corps to accept, verify, and place orders on a secured telephone at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro,” the indictment says.

For some of his out-of-state orders and deliveries, Sigloch often used U.S. Postal Service’s overnight Express Mail. One of his biggest mistakes was to sell his wares to undercover customs agents posing as customers, Fowler said.

In one of his sales in March, Sigloch sold $5,000 worth of steroids as well as a $20 pack of needles to inject the chemicals to a customs agent in a motel room in Carlsbad.

The Siglochs, who were released on bond after their arrest, are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in San Diego.

They each face a maximum of five years in federal prison for conspiracy, as well as a maximum of three years each on three counts of distribution, plus fines totaling $250,000 per count, Fitzpatrick said.