Youngstown Daily Legal News

Warren County appellate panel affirms man's convictions stemming from steroid distribution

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 30, 2013

A Warren County appellate court ruled last week that a man was properly convicted of drug trafficking and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity for his involvement in a steroid distribution system.

Tim Mielke argued that he should have been acquitted of all charges because his indictment failed to list the proper name of the drugs and he was tried in an improper venue.

Finding that both the venue and the indictment were correct, the 12th District Court of Appeals rejected his claims.

“Contrary to appellant’s contentions, these convictions were properly venued in Warren County, were properly indicted, and were supported by sufficient evidence,” 12th District Judge Stephen Powell wrote for the court.

Case summary details that Matthew Geraci started using steroids in 2006 and transitioned to buying and selling the substances in 2009.

Geraci testified that he moved his operation to an office center in Hamilton County in 2011, where he used a “locker system” to transfer anabolic steroids to his distributors.

When using the system, a distributor would send a text message to Geraci and he would place the steroids and an invoice in that distributor’s lockers, according to the summary.

The distributor was then able to pick up the steroids and leave money in the locker for Geraci, according to case summary.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives sent Agent Jim Burk to investigate Geraci’s operation as an undercover agent.

Burk found that Geraci’s steroids were sold in vials labeled with Synergy Pharmaceutical labels and that after testing, they proved to contain several varieties of anabolic steroids.

After making a series of controlled buys, Burk executed search warrants on Geraci’s residence and the office center in June 2011. Surveillance footage of the lockers showed Mielke entering and leaving the locker room.

Burk interviewed Mielke and he admitted purchasing steroids from Geraci’s residence and the office building. He also told Burk that he sold about 75 percent of his purchases and kept the remaining portion for personal use.

The Warren County Court of Common Pleas found Mielke guilty of 13 counts of drug trafficking and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

Mielke was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and he appealed to the 12th District.

On appeal, Mielke argued that his alleged crimes did not occur in Warren County and he should have been acquitted based on the improper venue.

“Ohio’s venue statute, R.C. 2901.12, provides that the ‘trial of a criminal case in this state shall be held in a court having jurisdiction of the subject matter, and in the territory of which the offense or any element of the offense was committed,’” Powell wrote, citing the Ohio Revised Code.

The three-judge appellate panel found that Mielke was charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity for his involvement in Geraci’s enterprise.

It further determined that although Mielke purchased his steroids in Hamilton County, Geraci was also involved in selling steroids in Warren County, establishing part of the steroid operation in that county.

“Though the evidence demonstrated that appellant was not directly involved in the Warren County sales, his association with the steroid enterprise extended into those areas where the tentacles of the criminal enterprise touched, including Warren County,” Powell stated.

Finding that at least one of Mielke’s charges took place in Warren County, the judges ruled that his trial court had proper jurisdiction.

Mielke continued to claim that he should have been acquitted because his indictment listed the street names of the steroids rather than labeling them as anabolic steroids.

The judges, however, held that the state was only required to identify the schedule of the drugs involved in the indictment and that it properly listed them as a Schedule III controlled substance.

Mielke also challenged the sufficiency of the evidence, claiming the state failed to show that the steroids were controlled substances, that he distributed them, or that he knew they were intended for sale.

The judges maintained that Geraci’s testimony identifying the substances as anabolic steroids was sufficient evidence because of his “extensive knowledge of steroids.”

They also found that Mielke admitted that he purchased the steroids and sold them to about 10 customers. The judges held that this was sufficient evidence to support Mielke’s involvement in distribution and his knowledge that the drugs were intended for sale.

“Thus, after reviewing the record under the applicable standard for a sufficiency challenge, we find that a rational trier of fact could have found that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt all of the requisite elements of the offense of trafficking in drugs, including the intent to sell element,” Powell wrote.

“Judgment affirmed.”

Fellow 12th District Judge Robert Ringland and Presiding Judge Robert Hendrickson joined Powell to form the majority.

The case is cited State v. Mielke, case No. 2013-Ohio-1612.

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