Bodybuilder Sold Ecstasy to Pay for Steroids

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A New Zealand bodybuilder started selling ecstasy to finance his use of anabolic steroids according to his attorney. Dylan Stephens was fined for attempting to import steroids late last year. But it was his involvement dealing ecstasy during that time that would eventually send him to prison.

Nelson District Court Judge Tony Zohrab sentenced Stephens to 27 months imprisonment after the bodybuilder pleaded guilty to fourteen charges related to the sale of ecstasy to others. Stephens was categorized as a mid-level drug dealer after police busted him selling more than 71 ecstasy tablets and offering to supply more than 200 more ecstasy pills.

Stephens came to the attention of New Zealand police during Operation Explorer which targeted the Red Devils motorcycle gang. The bodybuilder was not a member of the gang but had associated with some of its members.

Mark Dollimore, the defense lawyer for Stephens, claimed that his client was a former athlete who had become addicted to bodybuilding. He developed a psychologically dependency on anabolic steroids as a result. It was only because of this addiction that Stephens resorted to dealing ecstasy. Dealing ecstasy was only a means to finance the bodybuilding lifestyle according to Dollimore.

Judge Zohrab dismissed Stephen’s alleged steroid addiction as a valid excuse for the decision to sell ecstasy. While baffled by how an individual from a good family with a good support system and good character could end up as a drug dealer, Zohrab said that jail was the only appropriate punishment.

Source:

TVNZ. (December 2, 2011). Steroid addicted bodybuilder jailed for dealing ecstasy. Retrieved from http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/steroid-addicted-bodybuilder-jailed-dealing-ecstasy-4587165