Thread: Customs official sentenced to probation for importing growth hormone

Customs official sentenced to probation for importing growth hormone
by Anthony Roberts

This falls under the “if it were anyone else…” category…In Tacoma, Seattle, a Customs officer was recently sentenced to two years of probation for illegally importing human Growth Hormone from China. He faced up to ten years in prison, so two years of probation is a good victory for the defense, and maybe for the steroid world in general.

He began using steroids because he got his butt kicked while working as a police officer (as opposed to bodybuilders, who take them because they got their butts kicked in grammar school), and continued to use them after being hired as a customs officer. Although I’m happy to see the guy get a light sentence, because I don’t feel that steroids are something people should be put in prison for, it makes me wonder how many guys he busted for steroids as a customs agent, who are now sitting in prison.

I think, and this is just me speaking here, that he should be given a sentence equal to the longest sentence given to someone he personally busted for possessing steroids. If nobody he’s ever busted for gear is in prison, then probation is appropriate; but if he did the same thing that he busted a current prisoner for, then I think he should be sharing a cell with the guy, not being afforded the privilege of avoiding jail time.

Did you know: The old English etymology of the word privilege comes from the two words “private” and “law” – and it’s original meaning meant to imply that there was a different set of laws that applied to certain people, who were above “common law.”

It’s also interesting to note that this officer dimed out his former police department, saying that a lot of other officers were using steroids while he was there. I have a friend who works for one of the biggest newspapers in the country, and he’s told me that it’s a running joke with reporters, that police officers are the biggest snitches in the world – anytime you see a huge headline involving a police incident, it’s usually several officers snitching on the rest of the department.

Anyway, the Seattle Times did a great job writing this one up, so here’s the full article:

After he was beaten up while working as a cop in Tacoma, Sean Patrick Ganley searched the Internet for something to help him feel better and quickly get back on his feet again.

Ganley says he found the answer in an online advertisement for steroids from China with precise steps for U.S. residents to order the illegal drug. He started taking steroids, which he claimed was quite common among fellow law-enforcement officers, and continued even after being hired as an agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Blaine.

On Monday, Ganley, 38, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two years of probation for importing human-growth hormone from China.

“I made a big mistake, there’s no sugarcoating it,” Ganley said in court. “I felt that was what I could do to increase my strength. I wish I would have never done it.”

U.S. District Judge James Robart criticized the sentence recommended for Ganley for failing to send a sufficiently strong message to other police officers who might be taking illegal steroids. The judge said he followed the sentence because it was agreed upon by the prosecution, probation officials and the defense.

Tom Rice, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said that Ganley not only pleaded guilty but also resigned from his job with ICE and will be “banished from other law-enforcement jobs” because of his felony conviction.

Ganley resigned from ICE earlier this year.

John Crowley, his attorney, said Ganley has since moved to the Tri-Cities to live with his father, a retired police officer. The father and son are starting a private security company, Crowley said.

Had Ganley not pleaded guilty, he would have faced up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The investigation into Ganley began in April 2008 by the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations after customs agents at JFK International Airport in New York discovered human-growth hormone in a package arriving by mail from Beijing. The investigation revealed that Ganley had “surreptitiously sent three wire transfers to China and ordered the steroids using a false telephone number and fictitious address,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In a letter delivered to Judge Robart before sentencing, Ganley wrote that he believed steroids would allow him to get into peak physical shape and keep him safe while working in Tacoma, which he called “the most violent city in the Pacific Northwest.”

“Steroid use was very common within my own police department, as well as neighboring police agencies, so I again mistakenly felt it was ‘no big deal’ to use them,” Ganley wrote.

The prosecution of Ganley was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Washington to avoid a potential conflict of interest because Ganley had worked with federal prosecutors in the Seattle-based Western District of Washington.

souce

Originally Posted by clutton101

I think, and this is just me speaking here, that he should be given a sentence equal to the longest sentence given to someone he personally busted for possessing steroids. If nobody he’s ever busted for gear is in prison, then probation is appropriate; but if he did the same thing that he busted a current prisoner for, then I think he should be sharing a cell with the guy, not being afforded the privilege of avoiding jail time.


I totally agree I recon they shod have locked him up with some of the lads he helpd send down an the prick is a grass

This times 10.