SURRY COUNTY, Va. — The last person convicted of having a part in a multi-state steroid conspiracy was sentenced to five years in prison today.
The Department of Justice said Clyde Edward Peele, 46, was one of six people who participated in an anabolic steroid network that started in Wilson County, North Carolina in 2018.
The leader of that network, 37-year-old Michael Steven Lambert, made steroids from materials he and his wife ordered from China.
Michael and his wife, Laura Lambert, shipped the steroids to distributors and customers in several states using code names and cryptocurrency to cover their tracks.
Michael Lambert was initially convicted of possession of steroids in 2019, but the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said rather than turn himself in for jail time, he and his wife moved their operations and changed their identities.
They admitted to earning "well over a million dollars" over the course of their crimes, which they used to buy cars, jewelry and a horse.
The Lamberts lived in Pennsylvania and Virginia's Hanover and Surry counties while trying to evade law enforcement. Jessica Aber, the U.S. Attorney, said Peele worked for the Lamberts out of Surry.
"Peele worked for Lambert several days a week pressing powders into pills and shipping product to customers across the country," Aver wrote. "To avoid detection, Peele shipped packages using false names and from various postal branches in Surry County and Richmond."
Aber credited the Norfolk Resident Office Tactical Diversion Squad and the Virginia Beach Police Department in helping with the investigation.
Here's how the sentences played out for the rest of the conspirators:
- Michael Steven Lambert:
- Laura Lambert: 18 months
- Adam Morin: 18 months
- Hamdy Sayed: 3 months
- Erik Eckert: time served (approximately 3 months)
