Paul M. O’Brien
United States Attorney
Lori S. Glenn
Assistant U.S. Attorney
NASHVILLE MAN CHARGED IN A WIDESPREAD
HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE DISTRIBUTION CASE
Nashville, TN - September 24, 2007- Paul M. O’Brien, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Martin Phanco, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Atlanta Division and David Bourne, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration - Miami Field Office, announced that Corey Lee Counts of Nashville was charged Friday, September21, 2007,by Information with the illegal distribution of Human Growth Hormone (“hGH”). According to the Information, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits the knowing distribution of hGH for any use in humans other than the treatment of a disease or other recognized medical condition authorized by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") and pursuant to the order of a physician. The Information charges that Counts imported hGH from another country and distributed the hGH in Tennessee and elsewhere by, among other things, marketing hGH over an Internet website under the name “Atlas Labs.” The Information also alleges that Counts shipped the hGH to various purchasers using the United States Postal Service. The Information further charges that beginning not later than on or about September 28, 2006 and continuing thereafter until on or about February 26, 2007, in the Middle District of Tennessee and elsewhere, Counts knowingly distributed hGH for a use in humans other than the treatment of disease or other recognized medical condition and pursuant to the order of a physician, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 333(e)(1) and Title 18, United States Code, Section 2. Counts is also charged with illegally distributing Hydrocodone, a Schedule III controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1).
The investigation of Counts relates to “Operation Raw Deal,” a nationwide operation aimed at dismantling the illegal domestic underground hGH and anabolic steroid industry. Operation Raw Deal was coordinated through the combined efforts of the Federal Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) Office of Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Operation Raw Deal involved nearly a year-long investigation focusing primarily on targeting U.S. based hGH traffickers. This investigation identified “Atlas Labs,” the name used by Counts to distribute hGH on the Internet, as a major player in the nationwide distribution of hGH.
Terry Vermillion, Director of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, summarized the significance of Operation Raw Deal as follows: “The FDA Office of Criminal Investigations fully supports the investigation and ultimate prosecution of these profiteers who endanger the public by formulating and selling unapproved, illegal drugs, even when those who would be endangered are willing participants. These buyers are solely motivated by a desire to gain an unfair competitive advantage by using illegal performance-enhancing substances and the sellers are not concerned with the buyers' health but with making money.”
The investigation of Counts was handled locally by the FDA and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori S. Glenn is representing the United States.
The public is reminded that an information is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is presumed not guilty and is entitled to a jury trial at which the Government would bear the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.