Choppers founder on steroids list

Motorcycle reality TV celebrity, ball players linked to dentist convicted in illegal drug case

By BRENDAN J. LYONS Senior Writer "Timesunion.com"
07:55 a.m., Sunday, February 6, 2011 
 
A troubled dentist who pleaded guilty Friday to illegal distribution of steroids and human growth hormone had issued prescriptions for performance-enhancing drugs to clients that included the founder of Orange County Choppers and at least four Major League Baseball players, business records show.
The case, prosecuted in South Florida, has ties to a steroids-distribution investigation launched four years ago in Albany. It also provides insight into the darker side of a pipeline that authorities say illegally provided performance-enhancing drugs to thousands of people, including professional athletes and celebrities.
Pharmacy law experts have cast the system as a perversion of medical regulations that allowed nearly anyone with a credit card to order steroids. The illegitimate nature of the business may be best illustrated in the case of James M. D'Amico, a dentist from Cape Coral, Fla., who had a revoked dental license when he was prescribing powerful drugs to patients he'd never met, including pro athletes.MORE...