Iowan convicted of illegally selling performance-enhancing drugs for race dogs

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Pottawattamie County man on Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally selling thousands of doses of a testosterone performance-enhancing drug and other drugs for racing dogs.

Jon Stidham, 57, of McClelland, was convicted of conspiracy to deliver, distribute or dispense methyltestosterone — a controlled substance used to treat lack of testosterone in greyhounds — over the internet without a valid prescription and without complying with federal and Iowa licensing requirements.

He also pleaded to one count of conspiracy to introduce misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with intent to defraud or mislead and to commit mail fraud.

Stidham, who was on the Iowa Greyhound Association board of directors in May of last year, had his licenses suspended after the investigation started or when he was charged, according to an Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission ruling in December. He is no longer listed as a board member on the association’s website.

According to a plea agreement, Stidham admitted he operated Kennel Supply, which supplied items used for by kennels and in the care of farm animals. Kennel Supply sold controlled substances and non-controlled prescription drugs over the internet.

From 2015 through Oct. 12, 2018, Stidham distributed and sold more than 300,000 doses of methyltestosterone without valid prescriptions, making more than $324,000 from the sales.

During that same period Stidham illegally distributed more than 50 types of prescription drugs without a valid prescription or authorization and made more than $200,000 from those sales.

Carey Theil, executive director of a greyhound protection nonprofit, Grey2K USA Worldwide in Arlington, Mass., told The Gazette he was familiar with Stidham and that his nonprofit was concerned about the drugs Stidham was selling to kennels all over the country.

Theil shared an email that he sent to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission in 2016 about Stidham’s selling potential harmful drugs for animals.

According to the plea, Stidham developed a relationship with a veterinarian from Kansas who was only licensed in Kansas. Stidham obtained copies of the vet’s DEA registration and license without authorization to establish accounts where companies would ship prescription medications in bulk in Stidham’s business.

Stidham also prepared a document for the Kansas veterinarian to sign to be used as prescriptions and also forged the veterinarian’s signature in order to obtain controlled substances and prescription drugs for resale, the plea stated.

The plea agreement includes text messages Stidham would send to customers to sell the performance-enhancing drugs.

In June 2018, a number of greyhounds had positive drug tests at Dubuque Greyhound Racing Park, which was reported to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, according to the plea. The officials produced bottles of methyltestosterone obtained from Stidham as the only medication given to the animals.

During the investigation, law enforcement seized numerous prescription bottles of the drug and other prescription drugs from kennels in Iowa and other states that carried labels with Stidham’s name.

In 2018, authorities seized over 4,000 capsules of methyltestosterone in 22 prescription bottles, records of prescriptions signed by the Kansas veterinarian, blank prescription forms, a list of dog names, over $51,000 in cash and records of purchases from Stidham’s businesses.

Stidham remains free on bond pending sentencing, which will be set after a presentencing report is prepared.

He faces up to 15 years in prison, a $750,000 fine and up to life on supervised release after prison

Stidham also will forfeit illegal profits of $527,510 as part of the plea, according to court documents.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Reinert and was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Food & Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation, and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com