Former Philadelphia Police Detective Pleads Guilty to Drug Charges

PHILADELPHIA—Keith Gidelson, 36, of Philadelphia, a former detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. Gidelson operated an anabolic steroid and human growth hormone (HGH) distribution organization in Philadelphia. He acquired steroids from foreign suppliers and then sold these steroids to his co-conspirators, who distributed the drugs to their own customers.

Gidelson obtained shipments of anabolic steroids from suppliers in Europe and China. One supplier shipped the steroids to California, where defendant Robert Walters re-packaged them for shipment to Gidelson. Another supplier shipped orders of steroids to a mailbox that Gidelson has rented at a UPS store. Gidelson stored and packaged steroids at his Philadelphia home. He met with alleged drug customers—including defendants Michael Barclay, Keith Ebner, Jeffrey Filoon, Christian Kowalko, Joel Levin, Luke Lors, Joseph McIntyre, George Sambuca, William Schiavo, and Vaidotas Verikas—at their home and at Philadelphia-area fitness clubs to distribute anabolic steroids in various quantities.

Gidelson also distributed steroids to customers throughout the United States that he met through online weightlifting chat rooms on websites, including: Steroids.com; Inject.com; Isteroids.com; and Bodybuilding.com. Gidelson also used the electronic mail service yahoo.com and the encrypted e-mail services hushmail.com and safe-mail.com to place orders and communicate with his foreign suppliers.

Gidelson faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, two years to lifetime supervised release, a $500,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment on each count charged.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Axelrod.