MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Baldwin County man to three years’ probation for a conspiracy to sell anabolic steroids to people working out in local gyms.
U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer also fined Michael Wallace Phelps $5,000.
Phelps pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in January. According to his written plea agreement, he offered his services as a coach, trainer and consultant in Facebook posts in October 2020. He admitted that he distributed steroids at his home and other locations. The drugs included stanozolol, under the brand name Winstrol; nandrolone decanoate, under the brand name Deca-Durabolin; and testosterone cypionate and testosterone enanthate.
Phelps routinely placed orders for the illegal steroids from his home and had them shipped there, according to the plea document.
Federal investigators obtained records from FedEx showing that it delivered a package to an address in Daphne. Agents observed Phelps driving away from the home in a Nissan Rogue on Oct. 2, 2020. He went to various parking lots around Baldwin County, according to the plea agreement.
The following week, according to the plea document, the Drug Enforcement Administration received information about two packages sent from Jupiter, Florida, through the mail, addressed to the same residence in Daphne. A U.S. postal inspector got a search warrant to open the second package and found three bottles of Clenbuterol and one bottle of Letrozole.
Clenbuterol is frequently used with steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs because of its ability to increase muscle mass. Letrozole is a hormone-based chemotherapy that reduces estrogen production and is commonly used by body builders to help offset the effects of anabolic steroid use.
The plea agreement indicates that a cooperating witness working with federal law enforcement investigators met Phelps at Exit 57 off of Interstate 65 in Escambia County near Atmore to pick up steroids that he had ordered as part of a workout program recommended by the defendant.
The witness, who worked out at a local gym in Atmore, began training with Phelps in 2017. The defendant admitted that he offered to train the witness for a fee and listed workout routines, diets and the type and quantity of steroids that he needed in order to make progress.
The plea agreement includes transcripts of text messages between Phelps and others.
“I have another 500 for you...and if I don’t get to come up I’ll Venmo it (although I’d rather give you cash because I hate a trail),” Phelps told one customer in 2019.
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