Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Cache of steroids found at home

Authorities think an 18-year-old at the home may have imported the drugs from Thailand.

By DUANE BOURNE
Published May 20, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - Federal agents and sheriff's detectives descended on a home in the Glen Lakes community on Wednesday and arrested a former Central High School student suspected of importing anabolic steroids from Thailand.

James M. Hutchinson, 18, was taken into custody after authorities serving a search warrant discovered 3,000 tablets of two synthetic compounds, eight vials of liquid testosterone and assorted drugs, according to a Hernando County Sheriff's Office report.

Hutchinson was charged with possession of three forms of anabolic steroids, methandrostenolone, methandienone and testosterone, and possession of Darvocet and pemoline, a drug used to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

He also was charged with trafficking cocaine and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Details of Hutchinson's arrest were included in an affidavit filed at the Hernando County Jail on Thursday.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office would not comment about the investigation leading to the arrest or whether they planned to make further arrests in connection to the case. Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were also involved in the search.

Wednesday's arrest comes less than a month after the Hernando County School Board rejected a plan that would have required mandatory drug testing for middle and high school students who drive or participate in extracurricular activities.

As recently as last fall, Hutchinson played on the Central High bowling and golf teams, according to a school official.

In the United States, anabolic steroids are illegal without a physician's prescription, but the drugs are widely available over the Internet and through black market dealers. They are classified as controlled substances under federal and Florida law.

A woman who answered the telephone at Hutchison's home on Thursday afternoon said Hutchinson's mother, Cheryl, did not want to talk about the arrest, but confirmed that the teen had attended Central High School.

Principal Dennis McGeehan said Hutchinson was a student at Central but, "he hasn't attended for some time."

McGeehan, who had not heard of Hutchinson's arrest, could not say when or why Hutchinson stopped coming to school.

Hutchinson, who was a senior, was recognized in the school's yearbook as one of two students "suffering the worst bout of senioritis."

Central High School athletic director John Sedlack said Hutchinson played golf during the fall, and described "the kid he had known as Jimmy" as an "adequate" golfer.

"This is someone I would never expect this from," said Sedlack, who had not heard about the arrest.

On Wednesday, agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and detectives from the sheriff's vice and narcotics unit searched the Fox Hollow Lane home, north of Weeki Wachee, where Hutchinson lives with his mother.

According to an arrest report, Hutchinson admitted to buying the steroids and having them mailed to him from Thailand.

Investigators also found syringes, plastic bags, pipes, straws and a scale. The cocaine and marijuana both weighed less than one pound, the report stated. There was no indication of the value of the steroids confiscated.

On Thursday, Hutchinson was released from the Hernando County Jail after posting $10,000 bail. He was ordered to return to the Hernando County Courthouse on July 5 for arraignment, records show.

Times correspondent Brittany Vovan and Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Duane Bourne can be reached at 352 754-6114 or dbourne@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 20, 2005, 08:35:32]