Before things get out of hand and the allegations start to fly out of
control, let’s clear some things up on the news from today that U.S.
Marshals and steroid investigators have gathered at the Washington
Capitals’ training facility.
According to sources, the Capitals’ facility
was not ‘raided’ or ‘descended upon’ by federal authorities looking to
tear the place upside down in a search for steroids. Far, far from that
in fact. A number of sheriff’s office investigators, assisted by U.S.
Marshal authorities, have met at the training facility merely looking
to talk with some players and team officials.
The investigation is
a carry over from last year’s arrest of Richard Thomas, who was charged
with possessing anabolic steroids with intent to sell. Thomas said he
was using the drugs so that he could ‘look like Arnold Schwarzenegger‘ and that he was selling steroids to
players for the NHL, NFL and MLB. He specifically mentioned the
Washington Capitals and the Washington Nationals.
More after the jump.
Investigators
for the NHL took action based on the statements, and nothing further
came from the allegations. No specific players were named and it seemed
as though Thomas was just looking to try and bring down anyone he could
as he was legally buried with over $200,000 in illegal steroids. He also
claimed to be ‘the largest steroid dealer in Central Florida’.
Today,
Dr. Douglas Nagel, a chiropractor in the Virginia and Washington, D.C.
area was arrested in connection with the case, with detectives saying
the he has been purchasing steroids from Thomas for at least a year.
According to Melissa Liberman of WTSP.com:
Thomas said Nagel told him that he worked with professional athletes
in
the D.C.
area and that the doctor boasted about supplying steroids to these
athletes. The teams Thomas said Nagel supplied steroids to are the
Washington Nationals and the Washington Capitals.Nagal’s wife, Jan, said in a brief phone interview that her husband
did not sell steroids. She denied he ever treated members of the
Nationals, and declined to comment on whether he had treated any
Capitals.
According to the arrest affidavit for Richard Thomas, he had been
supplying steroids to clients all over the U.S. via FedEx and USPS.
Nagel has several patients on the Capitals and Nationals, but that
does not mean he had been supplying steroids to the players.
It’s certainly an incredible coincidence that a dealer stated nearly
a year ago, very specifically, pointed out the Capitals and Nationals
as teams that he had been indirectly supplying, and a chiropractor with
patients on both teams is then arrested for purchasing steroids from the
same dealer. It certainly seemed to be a baseless allegation last year,
but now there’s a possibility he could have been speaking the truth.
We’ll update you with the statement from the team as soon as we can.
