Latest on Illusion.

[Sean Summers]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1100674.html

RIDGEWATER — A special agent with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration testified Tuesday a Bridgewater man ran a "very high-level" underground Internet steroid lab out of his home.

"I was familiar with Illusion Laboratories and had considered targeting the lab," Alex Davis testified in Bridgewater provincial court Tuesday at the sentencing hearing of Kevin Wayne Tanner. But when he learned that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency was already targeting Illusion, "I backed off and didn’t pursue it any further," he said

Mr. Davis pegged the value of injectable and oral anabolic steroids and chemicals seized from Mr. Tanner’s Elm Street home at C$306,915.

A British Columbia RCMP officer deemed an expert in the trafficking and valuation of anabolic steroids said they were worth between $260,000 and $320,000.

The exact value is an issue in the case because Judge Anne Crawford will decide what the federal government gets in terms of proceeds of crime.

That will be delved into more deeply today, when a forensic accounting expert is to take the stand. One of the issues is whether authorities can seize Mr. Tanner’s home. He paid off his $40,000 mortgage in one year and six days, but his parents gave him the $58,500 down payment.

Mr. Tanner has admitted he smuggled controlled substances into the country; evaded paying duty on them; possessed, produced and sold anabolic steroids out of the spare bedroom of his home; and sold knock-offs of Cialis, Viagra and Nolva, a drug usually used to treat breast cancer, in violation of the Food and Drugs Act.

As a special agent with the FDA’s criminal investigations branch, Mr. Davis has been involved in about 50 investigations involving anabolic steroids. He said Mr. Tanner had customers in 31 states.

Looking at photographs taken inside Mr. Tanner’s house, Mr. Davis said what he saw was "all very indicative of an underground steroid lab," including raw chemicals, packaging and labelling material and equipment to make the steroids in liquid and pill form.

He said there are certain dangers inherent in making steroids in a home lab with raw materials imported from China. He said the imported chemicals can be mislabelled or mixed up or may contain heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, tin and mercury, and a home lab likely isn’t sterile.

He said Mr. Tanner did take some steps to ensure the quality of the drugs he was making by using products to kill bacteria and by using a filter that would remove some impurities, but he said the filter would not remove the heavy metals, and the environment was not sterile.

Mr. Tanner sold the steroids and Viagra, Cialis and Nolva knock-offs through contracts to other labs as well as directly over the Internet. Mr. Davis said Mr. Tanner also used an encrypted email service, which meant he did not know who his buyers were or if any of them were children or teenagers. Mr. Tanner has admitted making 150 to 200 sales a year.

"I would classify Illusion Laboratories as a very high-level illegal steroid distribution operation," Mr. Davis said.

Defence lawyer Alan Ferrier asked if it would make a difference if Mr. Tanner sold the bulk of the drugs to other labs to resell instead of directly to customers over the Internet.

"In the scheme of things, price is not the issue here more than quantity," Mr. Davis said, because the drugs ultimately came from Mr. Tanner.

"I would still classify him as a 10 because of the sheer quantity," he said of the scale of Mr. Tanner’s operation.

Cpl. Rob Worsley, a former licensed pharmacist, said there is no doubt the steroids were meant for bodybuilding and that Mr. Tanner was making other drugs and hormones to counter the side-effects of the steroids, such as impotence and breast development.

SS

[Mr.Freeze]

Thank you Sir.:)

[Born2Juice4Ever]

Thank you for the upgrade.

This gives me shivers down my back...I had know of him and he did well for some time. A good businessman with a good plan.
I hope his pain and suffering are not great while undergoing the trial process.

B2J

[natenator]

Thank you for the upgrade.

This gives me shivers down my back...I had know of him and he did well for some time. A good businessman with a good plan.
I hope his pain and suffering are not great while undergoing the trial process.

B2J
apparently his plan was not to great

[Born2Juice4Ever]

apparently his plan was not to great

I hear you fully.

I know when he started his venture...saw him go up the ranks...he shortened his life span by working for too many years.
He started off at SSB---GA took a lot of guys down with that site.
I believe he made a few millions,...should have pulled out IMO



B2J

[Monka]

Sooo Basically, they will try to take ALL your assets, so if you do that, make sure to spend spend spend and keep nothing. Sad, he had a full time GOOD job that paid alot, and still LE wants his all his property which was paid for with work money. i dont know, figure if his parents put most $$$ down and he paid 40k in year, it's doable, LE is just trying, to take everything. The guy made a mistake.learned his lesson, and wont did again, i'd think LE would try to get the rec people more, there WAAAAY more money there, right under there nose, and seem to slow down on that, but gear is dangerous. i know it's not legal, but it's not harmful. if they could just legalize this shit government could make tax money off it.. no ones on streets homeless from it. I think LE is just focused wrong area

[natenator]

Sooo Basically, they will try to take ALL your assets, so if you do that, make sure to spend spend spend and keep nothing. Sad, he had a full time GOOD job that paid alot, and still LE wants his all his property which was paid for with work money. i dont know, figure if his parents put most $$$ down and he paid 40k in year, it's doable, LE is just trying, to take everything. The guy made a mistake.learned his lesson, and wont did again, i'd think LE would try to get the rec people more, there WAAAAY more money there, right under there nose, and seem to slow down on that, but gear is dangerous. i know it's not legal, but it's not harmful. if they could just legalize this shit government could make tax money off it.. no ones on streets homeless from it. I think LE is just focused wrong area
Seriously? He made a mistake? He dealt drugs. He didn't accidentally get into dealing he got into it with the purpose of making easy money.

Am I sympathetic to people who get busted? Yes and no. Yes because there goes my supply but no because they know the risks and it's not a mistake. He knew full well what he was getting into AND did so with purpose and intent.

[Born2Juice4Ever]

Sooo Basically, they will try to take ALL your assets, so if you do that, make sure to spend spend spend and keep nothing. Sad, he had a full time GOOD job that paid alot, and still LE wants his all his property which was paid for with work money. i dont know, figure if his parents put most $$$ down and he paid 40k in year, it's doable, LE is just trying, to take everything. The guy made a mistake.learned his lesson, and wont did again, i'd think LE would try to get the rec people more, there WAAAAY more money there, right under there nose, and seem to slow down on that, but gear is dangerous. i know it's not legal, but it's not harmful. if they could just legalize this shit government could make tax money off it.. no ones on streets homeless from it. I think LE is just focused wrong area

Bro ****ing EURIKA!!!
I have ranted for years and I have openly told THOSE ****ers that are watching and reading our posts to wake up and see reality.

Have you ever heard of a juice monkey pulling a gun at a bank? pulling an armed robbery at a quciky? have you ever heard of juice monkeys getting caught for break-and enter----all to support a life style? I DON't ****ING THINK SO!!
You see junkies robbing banks, you see drug dealers getting into gun fights, stabbings, people getting hurt in HUGE drug wars---recreational drugs!! NOT EVEN ****ING OncE on juice.

LE focused on the wrong area? the R.C.M.P. sees kids driving Beemers, Audis, Infinities----kids selling drugs, they never get busted...yeah the life of a thug right?

Anyhow, busts like these get my ass fired up....I see guys driving expensive luxury cars, where the money proceeds from recreational....those never get busted.

if they are trying to take all of Illusions belongings, and accusing him of paying for all of this property from his sales, then it is wrong.
I hope he can afford to at least get a very good lawyer and one that will defend for his assets.

Bottom line is that he took a risk, and he at some levels enjoyed the benefits also.

B2J

[natenator]

There is a reason why LE focus on gear. Because it is the ONLY way on drugs they can honesrtly claim to be fighting and perhaps even winning?

You'll never win the wear on rec drugs so we take the brunt of their failures.

[Monka]

Ya true and sad part is , they'll just say at a conference that it's to keep kids from using. ALWAYS use kids!!! for everything, the guy, did run and illegal business BUT he did also work and put back into community, payed his legit taxes.. lol i can't ****ing believe they have the nerve to say he didn't' pay the taxes on his gear!!! WTF??? someone go to stupid school there?? seriously how the **** would you pay taxes on something illegal, you be in jail faster then you can shit.,!! duhhhh. But yous are correct, crime is at a higher level and you don't hear much about it cause now people smuggle shit into country like crazy and LE isn't' working on that, but our dangerous UG gear. Seriously drugs are EVERYWHERE, rec's that is. you CAN walk down the street at ANY downtown in a city and pick up something that REALLY can kill you. Gear is a drug , yes, but to improve your body, no addicts stealing/shooting/robbing. this is going on all the time.. Would be nice to see our tax $$$ on that.. Not that i agree what he did is right, but the man worked!! Some people make 10bucks hr. and support a home, and he who made Way more legaly they want to take all, if i was to seriously look at this case, you can see, maybe fancy vecihcals, but not the mans home, come on, i remember having a drug home that was across street from where i lived, and cars pulled in and out all hrs of night and day, you think LE noticed that?? that went on for 3 years, and they just figured time to move.. some just don't consider gear up there with rec drugs. There is worst out there and LE imo should be spending time on the rec's, Hell, EVERYONE in their life as comitted a crime, we are human, nice to make a buck to got out to eat or something. Even LE are buying UG gear, but they have to sit back keep quiet, obviously, just a shame to see a guy have his parents almost pay off the home have to loss now.

[jsv22]

There is a reason why LE focus on gear. Because it is the ONLY way on drugs they can honesrtly claim to be fighting and perhaps even winning?

You'll never win the wear on rec drugs so we take the brunt of their failures.

ANY prohibition does not work, this has been demonstrated time after time...but alas,

"THINK OF THE CHILDREN" lol

-jsv

[srt8]

Another article;
Illegal steroids operation worth big bucks
posted on 1/13/09

The internet steroids operation authorities busted in Bridgewater in January 2007 was a 10 out of 10, according to an expert with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Special agent Alex Davis testified Tuesday in the case of Kevin Wayne Tanner.

Mr. Tanner, 40, pleaded guilty to eight charges stemming from the investigation Monday. Crown and defence agree on the basic facts of his crimes, but Tuesday and Wednesday have been set aside for Judge Anne Crawford to hear evidence about details that are in dispute in the case.

Two experts in the field of anabolic steroids testified Tuesday, outlining the street values of the steroids and counteracting drugs seized by police, as well as their potential side effects and how underground labs use internet message boards to promote the sale of their products.

An RCMP corporal out of Vancouver estimated the total value of the processed and raw product seized from Mr. Tanner’s home in January 2007 was between $260,000 and $320,000.

Special agent Davis, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, who was brought in from New Orleans to testify in the case, estimated the seizure at just under $307,000.

Both men calculated their totals using a list of steroids and other drugs seized from Mr. Tanner’s Elm Street home and a price list which authorities retrieved from his computer.

Mr. Tanner has admitted he was producing about 15 different steroids and drugs to counteract their side effects, and that he was making between 150 and 200 sales a year over the internet. He’s also confessed that he was producing steroids for another distributor in Ontario.

The special agent classified Mr. Tanner’s operation as a 10 on a scale of one to 10, saying he based that ranking on Mr. Tanner’s methods of operation and the quantities of raw materials and product seized, and calling it “a very high-level illegal steroids distribution operation.”

The case will continue Wednesday when the Crown plans to call an expert in forensic accounting to compare Mr. Tanner’s personal finances and his spending habits.

[Random Letters]

By anthonyrobertsonline



Kevin Wayne Tanner, (a/k/a “Scott Free“)the owner of Illusion Labs (which was run out of Canada) seems to have left a pretty extensive paper trail. And he was making around $70,000 per year off of his illegal business. This doesn’t make him a huge steroid dealer or lab (the bigger ones make ten times that much each month), but it does put him in the medium range. He had about 200-300 customers at the time of his arrest, mostly Canadian but some American.

And since all of his business was conducted on the oh-so-familiar message forums that we all know and love, those discussion boards are probably being scrutinized by law enforcement (remember, his computer was seized).

Remember, one of the guys busted in Operation Raw Deal was making about $30k/year, and he quit his job at Abercrombie & Fitch to start his steroid lab. He could have just kept working until he became an assistant manager and earned just as much (or worked some overtime). [Note: I believe that guy was SAMAR Labs]

The reason I believe Illusion Labs kept extensive records is because the prosecutor is throwing around a $200k dollar amount, as the amount that he believes Kevin Tanner had spent over three years, above his reported income. And they’ve also been mentioning that they have used other methods (probably tracking Western Union and using his computer records) to figure out how much money he really made. Anyone who has ordered from this guy and used a traceable method could be in some degree of trouble right now.

Right now, a financial profile of Mr. Tanner’s income and spending from Jan.1, 2004, until Jan.22, 2007 is being created, and if you were one of the people who contributed to his income, you may have cause to be worried. His bank account is also being audited, so people who wired him money from their own account should especially be worried.

And, before he became an underground Chemist, what did Mr. Tanner do for a living? Mr. Tanner worked for Buck’s Home Hardware, earning less than $25k/year. A dude with a minimum-wage job, and little education past high-school, was mixing up chemicals in his home, and people were happily shooting them into their bodies, and claiming that they were the best stuff around!

Have I mentioned that when they seized his computer they found a Child Pornography on it! [Note: The last time I heard of someone in the steroid world being connected to child pornography was on MassMonsterz.com, when BigGuns was turned in by his girlfriend - and yes, this is the site owned by BlackDream71] SO yeah, Illusion Labs, one of the most respected “bros” on the internet (the “community” if you will) was into child pornography. He should have been a mod on MassMonsterz.com instead!

To me, this is a huge deal, not only because it’s just about the lowest thing in the world someone can do, but because it’s added incentive for law enforcement to figure out every single person this guy ever had any internet chats with! Steroids may have been a closed case, but my suspicion is that they are going to be giving this situation added attention, and trying to figure out every site on the ‘net that he was ever on.

Through his Western Union receipts, law enforcement officials were able to track at least $50,000 that Illusion Labs sent to China, Thailand, Israel and Pennsylvania. I’d be worried if some of that money were coming to me and I lived in Pennsylvania. And two days after his initial arrest, a $15,605 in cash was seized in transit to Mr. Tanner - bad news for his last few customers!

The crazy thing about all of this is that in Canada, it is not illegal to possess anabolic steroids for personal use, but it is illegal to make, import, export or sell them.

[neobol]

Before knowing the details, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about the child pornography thing. Police seem to charge people with anything possible, and who knows what they actually found. What falls into that category might surprise some people.. take a look at this story in the states. For the record, I abhor child pornography. BUT - take a look at what's going on the states, and you tell me if you think the people involved should be charged for child pornography. These 17 year olds are being charged with possession of child pornography for taking pictures of THEMSELVES.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/kids.html

[gsxr750]

My buddy got arrested for child pornography. The guy was no diddler. Have you never done a search on Limewire/Kazza etc for some sexual term, selected the whole list and started your download to see what you've got in the morning?

Better hope one of those downloads has no underaged people in them.

But yea, makes the cops look that much better huh?

[faller]

Lol, anthonyrobertsonline.