The Poway man’s arrest caps a years-long investigation. NBC 7’s Mari Payton has more.
A man accused of running a steroid distribution center in Spring Valley, where he allegedly manufactured anabolic steroids for nationwide distribution, has been charged by San Diego federal prosecutors, according to a complaint unsealed Tuesday.
Edgar Lopez Feliciano is accused of buying anabolic steroid powders, a type of synthetic steroid, from Chinese and Turkish suppliers, then using those powders to manufacture anabolic steroids. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he mailed more than 10,000 parcels containing steroids between June and August of last year.
Feliciano was arrested Tuesday and law enforcement seized items from the Spring Valley distribution center and Feliciano's home in Poway. He made his first court appearance Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors said "hundreds of thousands of individual dosage- units" of steroids were seized, along with large amounts of cash, jewelry and luxury vehicles. Prosecutors also said around $7 million was deposited into bank accounts Feliciano held in recent years and more than $2.5 million from those accounts was wired to "overseas entities believed to be involved in the production and distribution of Schedule III Controlled Substances."
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Feliciano is charged with one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, which carries a maximum possible penalty of 20 years in prison.
The DEA said it's been investigating Felician since 2017. His court-appointed public defender said Feliciano wants to “Come to court and fight his case.”
Feliciano is married with two children who live at his home in Poway. His family was not in court Wednesday, but a friend who works as a personal trainer was. He is being held on $100,000 bail.
