After pleading guilty for the charges of selling illegal anabolic steroids from his health store in Lower Lonsdale area, his lawyer asked the court for a conditional discharge. Joao Melo, 28, owner of the health food store SVN Canada at 103 East Third Street and his wife Sylvie Tran were arrested by police officers last August. He allegedly sold anabolic steroids to bodybuilders and athletes. Moreover, there are some reports that the owner also sold these drugs to minors which alarmed some of the residents in the area.

This prompted police authorities to field in undercover agents posing as martial arts enthusiasts. Based from court records, they were able to purchase anabolic steroids in several occasions. The couple keeps the steroid behind the counter or at the back of the store. They noticed that the purchases were not entered into the cash register.

According to the undercover agents, they were told by Melo on how to take the steroids. He told police officers that they could easily gain additional 50 to 60 pounds to their bench press when taking the steroids. Melo also warned the officers about the dosage. He said that they should not take more than 2 pills a day and stop for 2 weeks to give their body cleanse the drug which commonly referred to as steroid cycle. Melo said that some of the young kids buying from him abuse it and they take four pills a day which was dangerous and would cause problems for their heart and liver. The couple also informed the officers not to drink alcohol while taking those steroids to avoid side effects especially to the liver. Melo sold the drug M1T (a short form of methyl-1-testosterone) from Andro Technologies to the officers.

Jay Straith, the Federal Crown counsel have different stand on the case. He asked the judge to sentence Melo to house arrest since the sale of these drugs is a serious public health issue. Although Melo sold these drugs to bodybuilders and some fighters, he also sold these to some kids who don’t even work out and just want to get bigger. “He was quite aware of the effects. He seemed to understand how dangerous they are, particularly to young people,” Straight added.

Melo’s lawyer, Shelley Sugarman said that his client only sold the illegal drugs because customers asked him to supply them. “He felt pressure from the customers. He didn’t want to lose the rest of their business,” she said. She also told the judge that Melo never offered the steroids to anyone unless they specifically asked for them. He sold to men in their 20’s but he didn’t sell the steroids to minors, she added.

The business license of the health store could be revoked by the city because of this case. Melo was also required by Revenue Canada to pay taxes on the undeclared income more than $5,000.

Charges on Melo’s wife were already dropped and the judge still has to make judgment on his case.

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