Written by:

Teresa Stepzinski

April 28, 2008

A federal judge sentenced an Alpharetta man to 51 months in prison Wednesday for conspiring to distribute anabolic steroids in Glynn County.Joseph Garcia, 28, must perform 100 hours of community service while on three years supervised probation upon his release from prison, Senior U.S. District Judge Anthony Alaimo ordered.

Garcia provided associates with the identity of a confidential informant who was aiding federal investigators tracking down international steroid traffickers and clandestine processing labs nationwide, Assistant U.S. Attorney Darrin McCullough told the judge.

McCullough also said Garcia provided "mostly false information" to investigators in the case. In addition, Garcia conspired to distribute steroids in Connecticut while he was free on bail awaiting trial in the Brunswick case, McCullough told Alaimo.

A federal conspiracy charge against Garcia stemming from the Connecticut case has been dismissed in deference to the Brunswick case, court records showed.

"I understand what I did was wrong ..." Garcia said as he apologized to the judge.

Garcia, also known as Joe Gold, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute steroids in Brunswick from April 17 through July 9 last year.

He provided money laundering services and routed shipments of steroids from rogue manufacturers in China to buyers in the U.S., FBI Special Agent Tony Alig previously testified.

The illicit transactions were brokered over the Internet with the use of encrypted e-mails, Alig also testified.

Alaimo ordered Garcia immediately taken to prison to begin serving his sentence.

Garcia was among four men charged in Brunswick last year as a result of the international investigation into steroid trafficking.