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Home / New Zealand

Bodybuilder's sentencing for steroid dealing delayed

Kurt Bayer
By Kurt Bayer
South Island Head of News·APNZ·
11 Sep, 2013 04:07 AM3 mins to read

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Phil Musson. Photo / Supplied

Phil Musson. Photo / Supplied

Sentencing for a champion bodybuilder who admitted masterminding a million-dollar nationwide steroid dealing ring has been delayed.

Phil Musson has admitted being behind what officials called a "sophisticated" operation, where banned medicines being posted around New Zealand.

Musson, 44, imported anabolic steroids, including nandrolone, as well as anti-oestrogens, thyroid medicine, and synthetic growth hormones from Hong Kong and China between March and July, last year.

One of the steroids, trenbolone is used by veterinarians on livestock to increase muscle growth and appetite.

All of the medicines - except one called tadalafil - appear on the World Anti-Doping list of banned substances for athletes.

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According to court documents seen by APNZ, the ring involved Musson picking up packages of steroids from mail depots using a fake driving licence as ID. The contents were described as 'paint restoring wax', 'acrylic nail sealing wax' and 'travel pack cosmetics'.

Musson then returned to his Christchurch property and packaged the medicines, which came in in liquid and powder form, into vials and tablets using a makeshift laboratory in his garage.

Ministry of Health officials said the process fell "well short of good manufacturing practice", raising concerns over health risks for users.

Musson, crowned Mr New Zealand Athletic 2005, also used his own pill press to make tablets, which he would dye and print with his own brand under 'Phoenix' or other names.

He used a storage facility rented in his mother-in-law's name to store his cache of medicines and raw ingredients.

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Bodybuilder admits steroid dealing

10 Apr 04:48 AM
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30 Apr 05:30 PM
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Police seek bodybuilder's gold

03 Sep 12:12 AM

Medicines with a street value of $300,000 were seized in a raid last May.

A total of 17 consignments of imported raw ingredients with a street value of around $641,000 were imported by Musson and intercepted by Customs and the Ministry of Health.

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"The medicines were distributed throughout New Zealand on a large scale," the court papers show.

He used a number of distributors through the country.

"It was a sophisticated ring, which Musson was seeking to expand," the documents state.

It was a lucrative business, with the professional personal trainer operating on margins of between 2000 and 5000 per cent for home-made products.

His margin on imported products was the much smaller but still substantial 290 per cent.

The court papers say the substances Musson sold are banned for the protection of athletes' health and to protect medical and sports ethics.

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"Banned substances are considered to have a corrosive effect on competitive sport," the documents state.

Today, Musson, of Bishopdale, Christchurch was due to be sentenced at Christchurch District Court on 156 charges laid under the Medicines Act 1981 to which he had pleaded guilty to in April.

He also pleaded guilty to two police charges of forging a driver's licence and using that fake document.

The Crown withdrew a handful of charges today, while Musson pleaded guilty to two outstanding charges that had not been dealt with.

Sentencing could not proceed after Judge Alastair Garland noticed some issues in a pre-sentence report which he had not previously "cottoned on to".

Sentence was deferred to next month, and Musson was remanded in custody until that date.

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