Bodybuilding.com - Steroid Law: The Old Bait And Snitch

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Learn about the role of informers in the drug enforcement industry. How does it work? What do steroid users need to know to stay safe?

By: Legal Muscle

When it comes to narcotics investigations, informers make the world go round. They are the grease that keeps the wheels of the War on Drugs machine turning. The law enforcement term is always Confidential Informant, or C.I. Somehow, "informant" sounds less devious than "informer," which is the more accurately descriptive term and the one many defense lawyers prefer. But lots of people use terms like rat or snitch.

How Does A Person Become An Informer?

How does somebody become an informer? Here's the scenario as it plays out in many federal narcotics cases: Danny Doe gets popped dead to rights on conspiracy drug charges. Not steroid charges, mind you, but serious cocaine or heroin charges. He gets busted because somebody got popped and ratted him out. Danny's pretty big-time and has a record, so he's looking at doing a nasty stretch of time under the federal sentencing guidelines (USSG) if he pleads guilty or blows trial. The agents tell him that he can help himself if he "cooperates" with them - before talking to a lawyer. It's standard for the feds to squeeze the many "small fish" they arrest into giving up their sources, leading to the arrests of bigger fish who, in turn, are squeezed to give up their sources.

Far too many people immediately begin spilling their guts to the arresting agents before a lawyer is even involved. Bad idea. The agents have virtually no authority to cut deals. Period. What they say isn't binding on the prosecutor or the judge. Any arrangement or "deal" should arise from fully negotiated understandings, in writing, between the prosecutor and the defense lawyer.

Let's say Danny meets with his lawyer and they go through the options. Let's say Danny's situation is bleak enough for him to think about becoming a snitch. Danny's lawyer arranges a debriefing at the U.S. Attorney's office. Danny and his lawyer meet with the prosecutor and agents assigned to the case. Danny is given a proffer agreement for him to read and sign. It typically provides that nothing he says in the meeting will be used directly against him. There are, however, a few exceptions. He must tell the truth in the meeting. If he doesn't, the deal is off. Not only is the deal off, but also whatever incriminating evidence he has told them can be used to impeach him if he later tries to falsely testify to his innocence at trial or if he offers evidence or arguments inconsistent with his statements. Also, if the information he provides leads them to other evidence separate from his statements, that other evidence could be held against him. Perhaps most importantly, what he tells them must not be withheld from the sentencing judge and will be factored into the calculations of where he falls in the USSG.

Somebody Must Get Busted

Further, Danny must ultimately provide substantial assistance to get his deal. What that means, in practical terms, is that somebody else must get busted as a result of Danny's efforts, or at the least, his efforts must help convict somebody. Danny will have to name names, betray confidences, deceive people who trusted him and maybe even testify against them in open court. He may even risk his own safety and that of his family. He must not hold back in selling anyone he can. The more people who are arrested as a result of Danny's assistance, the better off he'll be.

Editor's Note: This article is from the book, Legal Muscle, written by Rick Collins. Check it out here to view the full version. It's the number one steroid law resource ever written!

What does Danny get out of all this? Under federal law and guidelines, cooperators are to be rewarded. So, Danny gets a letter on his behalf from the prosecutor to the sentencing judge. This letter, commonly called a 5K letter because its authority is under USSG Â§ 5K1.1, will tell the judge about all the things Danny did to help arrest and prosecute his former friends and associates. Most importantly, the letter will legally permit the judge to depart from the USSG in sentencing Danny, so that even if years in prison are called for under the guidelines, Danny has a chance at getting much less time - possibly even no time. It gives the discretion in sentencing back to the judge. Most, but not all, judges bestow quite favorable treatment on cooperators, knowing their great value to a criminal justice system that heavily relies upon informers to build narcotics cases and make arrests.

Danny weighs his options, comparing where he falls in the USSG to where he might end up with a 5K letter. If he's like the substantial majority of traffickers of cocaine, heroin and marijuana facing federal time, he'll choose to become an informer. He'll tell the government everything he knows about everyone he knows. He'll tell about his drug sources and his customers. He'll tell about the neighborhood dealer and the guys who sell steroids at the gym. It will be up to the feds to choose what they want to run with.

"Tell Us About The 'Roid Pushers..."

Let's say the coke dealers are pretty much all already busted, the meth lab closed up shop, and the local weed seller cleaned up his act and went back to school. The agents will shrug and say, "Tell us more about the 'roid pushers." Of course, if Danny himself was busted for juice, he might not know much about cocaine or heroin. If he wants to cooperate, it'll probably be on anabolic steroid cases.

It's important to know that informers work both up and down the chain. For example, an arrest was made of Harvey, a large-scale steroid trafficker in a Western state. His primary source was located in Eastern Europe, so there were limits to what the agents could do. Instead, they worked down the ladder. Harvey ratted out his regional distributors, and then ratted out his bigger customers. One of them was Ken, my client. Harvey showed evidence to the feds of wire transfers from Ken in payment for juice. The feds looked into Ken and found that he's on federal probation for, you guessed it, trafficking in juice. They began tracing past travel and phone records to link Ken to the various other co-conspirators.

So, Danny calls his friend Ralphie and says he's got a high rolling customer who needs some juice, and they both stand to make a few dollars. Danny sets up Ralphie just like someone set up Danny. A few months later, Ralphie's in the U.S. Attorney's office reading his own proffer agreement.

That's the way the system proceeds in most narcotics cases. Traditionally, juice cases have been different. Although I have defended steroid clients who were set up by informers, the informers themselves were usually charged with trafficking cocaine or "club drugs" like GHB or ecstasy or, less frequently, with trafficking steroids in state court where penalties may be harsher. Until very recently, I've found that cooperation is less common among gear dealers in federal court. This may be due mostly to the lower stakes involved, as the steroid "discount" inherent in USSG Â§ 2D1.1 (Note G of the Drug Quantity Table) effectively requires enormous quantities to mandate really major prison time. Many first-time AAS defendants may figure, why cooperate if probation is a likely sentence? But the lesser percentage of federal court AAS cooperators may also be due in part to an old-fashioned "code of honor" among juicers that simply doesn't exist elsewhere in the drug world. It is interesting that although I've defended many first-timers accused of steroid trafficking in federal court, not a single one has chosen to rat out fellow bodybuilders.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is this: the decision of whether or not to cooperate with the government should never be made lightly. It should be made after carefully evaluating the pro's and con's with an experienced criminal defense lawyer. The arresting agents will say otherwise. They may even say that if a lawyer gets involved, all deals are off. Don't buy it. Succumbing to the intense pressure by law enforcement may result in a hasty decision that you'll later regret.

About The Author: Rick Collins, Esq., is a veteran lawyer and former competitive bodybuilder who has been involved in the defense of over 1,000 anabolic steroid cases nationwide. He is the author of the groundbreaking new book LEGAL MUSCLE: Anabolics in America, available through www.SteroidLaw.com. [ Rick Collins, 2003. All rights reserved. For informational purposes only, not to be construed as legal advice.]