Pubdate: Thu, 15 Nov 2007
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2007 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Author: Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Note: Does not publish letters from writers outside area

EX-OFFICER CHARGED WITH SALE OF DRUGS

DELRAY BEACH -- An officer fired from the Boca Raton Police Department
for steroid use in 2003 was arrested Wednesday and charged with two
counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance.

Following the raid of the Linton Boulevard office, a Boca doctor -
already facing six counts of the same charges - also was detained.

Anthony Forgione, 43, of Boca Raton was arrested and Dr. Gary
Brandwein, who is being investigated for supplying steroids and other
drugs to professional wrestlers including the late Chris Benoit, is
being questioned as part of "Operation Which Doctor," a nationwide
crackdown on anti-aging clinics that police say are prescription mills
for steroids.

The probe, conducted by the district attorney's office in Albany,
N.Y., has included raids of Palm Beach Rejuvenation in Jupiter and
Signature Pharmacy in Orlando.

Albany investigators will seek to extradite Forgione to New York in
court this morning before executing a search warrant on his Boca Raton
home.

The house is about 11/2 miles from the two-story office complex at 900
Linton Blvd. where Forgione ran the "Wellness Referral Service" for
several months.

Forgione also runs Infinity Longevity, an anti-aging clinic in Boca
Raton that through Brandwein provided heavyweight boxer Jameel McCline
of Wellington with more than $12,000 worth of steroids, human growth
hormone and related drugs over a 21-month period, according to a
source close to that investigation.

Delray police arrived at the office complex intending to arrest
Forgione, but were surprised to find Brandwein there.

"It's kind of ironic that Dr. Gary Brandwein was in his office, where
it appears they were selling steroids out of," New York narcotics
investigator Mark Haskins said. "We're still looking into that. I
can't tell you what he was doing there."

Brandwein, an osteopathic physician, pleaded not guilty to the six
earlier charges. According to New York's Daily News, Brandwein
prescribed drugs to three pro wrestlers who have died in the past two
years: Eddie Guerrero, Brian Adams and Benoit, who allegedly murdered
his wife and 7-year-old son before committing suicide in June.

Police said Wednesday they found a loaded handgun in Forgione's
office, which included computers and a couch but no exam rooms or
instruments commonly found in clinics.

Witnesses said police swarmed the office and quickly handcuffed
Forgione.

Attention then turned toward securing Forgione's house, where
neighbors said they suspected he was operating a business.

Liza McMillan, who lives across the street, said she found it odd that
visitors quickly left even though some waited up to two hours for him
to come home. She said Forgione told her he sold "herbal steroids."

"It was weird, why there'd be so many different people all the time,
for people that aren't really sociable at all," McMillan said of
Forgione and his wife, Linda.

Boca police fired Anthony Forgione in April 2003 after he admitted to
city officials he had a nearly decade-old steroid habit.

As neighbors watched undercover officers secure his house Wednesday
night, they said the nature of the charges didn't surprise them
because they knew steroids led to his departure from the police
department and that he was an avid weight-lifter with a muscular build.

"No shirt, never," McMillan said. "He's a man who's in love with
himself."
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MAP posted-by: Derek