Big Steroid Raid Might Be a Bust

Last December, federal, state and local agents raided Lawrence Wood’s home in Thousand Oaks, confiscated a variety of chemical compounds and claimed they had made the biggest seizure of illegal steroids in Ventura County history.

Almost three months later, Wood still has not been charged with a crime, and Ventura County Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele ordered sheriff’s deputies Friday to return most of the property seized in the raid.

An attorney for the Food and Drug Administration, Wm. Malcom Logan, told Steele that federal labs continue to test Wood’s chemical compounds and that he expects to seek an indictment within eight weeks.

“We’re still learning what he was doing,” Logan told the judge. He said Wood was “a snake-oil salesman” who made false claims about the health benefits of a substance known as GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate).

Logan described GHB as a substitute for anabolic steroids, which are illegal for nonmedical uses but are sometimes taken by athletes to improve performance. Possession of GHB is not a crime, but Logan said the seized substances are still being analyzed to see if they contain any illegal compounds.

In a court hearing Friday, Wood’s attorney, George C. Eskin, said the government had abused the court and the Sheriff’s Department by obtaining a search warrant that made “wild claims about steroids” that were never found.

Eskin has described Wood, a former Rockwell research scientist, as a longevity enthusiast whose vitamin marketing and research into life-prolonging substances have been misconstrued by the FDA. He scoffed at Logan’s claim that the government needs more time to analyze what it seized.

“One would think that the federal government would have labs able to do this by now,” he said.

Eskin said his client committed no crime, but he agreed to let the government hold several types of substances pending completion of its investigation. They include GHB, progesterone and other substances that Wood said he uses in longevity experiments.

But the two attorneys asked the judge to decide whether the government could continue to hold $28,000 cash seized in the raid, prescription drugs, scales and a coffee grinder that Logan said was used in the packaging of steroids.

Steele--noting that Wood has not been charged with a crime and must be presumed innocent--ordered the government to return the disputed items to Wood. The judge also expressed annoyance that Logan did not present any legal precedents to support the government’s effort to keep the materials.