Charges Dismissed in Steroid Trial

Felony charges against a former teacher’s aide accused of peddling steroids to three Carlsbad High School students were dismissed Tuesday after a Superior Court jury failed to reach a verdict.

Superior Court Judge J. Morgan Lester dismissed all charges against Gregory Thomas Tirona, 31, including four counts of selling a controlled substance to minors and four counts of selling a controlled substance, each carrying a maximum sentence of four years.

The jury deliberated for five hours after two days of testimony that began last Wednesday, and returned deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal.

Tirona was accused of selling steroids to three 16-year-old athletes from October to December, 1988, after the mother of one of the students found steroids in her son’s possession and alerted school officials.

The three students testified that Tirona, a who taught a class for suspended students, had sold them the drugs.

Tirona’s attorney, David McKenzie, said he felt the jury simply did not believe the students’ testimony.

“I don’t believe that they had any more faith in the credibility of the three accusing witnesses than I did, and that’s all the prosecutor had,” said McKenzie, who characterized the witnesses as “three troublesome students.”

The jury foreman, Joe Schreiber, said that “it came down to a credibility issue of the three witnesses.”

“All of the evidence came down to the testimony of the high school students,” Schreiber said. “They lost credibility that shed enough doubt not to convict Mr. Tirona.”

“There were a bunch of conflicting stories, there apparently were some lies told, and various inconsistencies in their stories came up,” Schreiber said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Williams, who prosecuted Tirona, said the case will not be refiled unless more evidence is discovered. There is no current investigation under way, he said.

Following the dismissal of the charges, Tirona said he had counseled the kids on “the pros and cons” of steroid use, but did not sell or use them.

“I denied involvement, and I said from the beginning that the jury would decide, and today they did after hearing everything presented,” Tirona said.

The topic came up with the students since “it was in the news so much at the time” because of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson’s loss of an Olympic gold medal for alleged steroid use, he said.

“They came to me and asked me all sorts of things concerning where they can get them and what they do,” said Tirona, who has been suspended from his job at the school since June. “I gave them straightforward answers, not thinking much about it.”

“I spoke really freely about things, and I shouldn’t have. I guess working for the school, you’re not supposed to.”

Tirona said he had told the students that steroids can be bought in Mexico. He said school officials warned him in January, 1989, not to counsel students on steroid use and that he stopped doing so. He said that he and the students who accused him had been friends and that he feels they turned against him.

Prosecutor Williams said the three students had been put under great strain by the trial.

“It was awkward for them testifying against someone who used to be their friend,” he said. “It was difficult for the kids that testified because they felt they were doing the right thing in the face of a lot of hassle.”

McKenzie said police, the schools and the district attorney’s office pressured the three into blaming somebody.

“The students didn’t realize nothing would happen to them. If they had just come forward and told the truth about where they got the steroids, nothing would’ve happened to them,” he said.