A fast track to riches; harm in their wake
Supplement industry flies under the radar, poses deadly risk.
Beny Mesika and Wes Houser had little in their backgrounds besides criminal convictions and failed businesses, but their fortunes turned when they began concocting dietary supplements.
Within five years, they were awash in cash as they blended and bottled products promising a shortcut to size, strength and muscle from their warehouses in the northern Atlanta suburbs.
It was a fast and improbable ride to a life of $300,000 sports cars, ornate mansions, even a 43-acre farm.
Now it?s a cautionary tale showing how easily unscrupulous operators can find a home in the supplement industry and the irreparable harm that can result.
Mesika and Houser are key figures in a criminal case currently playing out in Atlanta federal court that is painting one of the most damning pictures to date of the largely unregulated industry. Prosecutors assert that the pair made millions manufacturing supplements that in fact were illegal anabolic steroids and that one of those products was potent enough to kill.
The case is one of several in recent years in which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sought to crack down on supplements containing so-called designer or synthetic steroids.
But the case against Mesika and Houser ? a rare instance of prosecutors specifically referring to a product causing death or injury ? has opened a particularly revealing window into just how far behind the curve the government can be in catching up to dangerous supplements.
Read Full Article Here: http://www.myajc.com/news/crime--law/fast-track-riches-harm-their-wake/XFqcGH3efOMTx9IDpUl9AN/
Supplement industry flies under the radar, poses deadly risk.
Beny Mesika and Wes Houser had little in their backgrounds besides criminal convictions and failed businesses, but their fortunes turned when they began concocting dietary supplements.
Within five years, they were awash in cash as they blended and bottled products promising a shortcut to size, strength and muscle from their warehouses in the northern Atlanta suburbs.
It was a fast and improbable ride to a life of $300,000 sports cars, ornate mansions, even a 43-acre farm.
Now it?s a cautionary tale showing how easily unscrupulous operators can find a home in the supplement industry and the irreparable harm that can result.
Mesika and Houser are key figures in a criminal case currently playing out in Atlanta federal court that is painting one of the most damning pictures to date of the largely unregulated industry. Prosecutors assert that the pair made millions manufacturing supplements that in fact were illegal anabolic steroids and that one of those products was potent enough to kill.
The case is one of several in recent years in which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sought to crack down on supplements containing so-called designer or synthetic steroids.
But the case against Mesika and Houser ? a rare instance of prosecutors specifically referring to a product causing death or injury ? has opened a particularly revealing window into just how far behind the curve the government can be in catching up to dangerous supplements.
Read Full Article Here: http://www.myajc.com/news/crime--law/fast-track-riches-harm-their-wake/XFqcGH3efOMTx9IDpUl9AN/
