Fired officer tied to steroids

Under questioning by city officials, officer Anthony Forgione admitted to having a nearly decade-old habit of buying and using anabolic steroids. Further questioning also revealed Forgione violated police personnel policy by withholding information about his applications to other South Florida law enforcement agencies.

Based on those findings, Assistant City Manager George S. Brown fired Forgione April 11.

A police department spokesman would not comment on whether any criminal charges were pending against Forgione.

City Attorney Bob Norton and police officials acted on a tip from a New York news article and approached Forgione, a former New York City police officer, with the allegations in December.

A Sept. 20, 2002, Newsday story about an internal Suffolk County, N.Y., police investigation into suspected illegal drug use by officers mentioned an unnamed Boca Raton police officer.

A wire-tapped conversation on July 21, 2002, caught Forgione attempting to buy Primobolan or Winstrol V steroids from former Suffolk County police officer Thomas Foley, according to the Boca Raton IA report.

"You're going to bring those down to me?" Forgione said on the tape.

"I'll bring them... yeah. I'll bring them down, you know," Foley said.

"Yeah... if you can get Primos or that Winstrol V or something like that," Forgione said.

Forgione either attempted to purchase or use steroids in connection with several other Suffolk County police officers, according to the report.

Winstrol V is a brand name of the controlled substance stanozolol, according to Eugene Odin, a Florida Department of Health pharmacist. It is used by veterinarians and would not be prescribed for humans, Odin said during the investigation.

Forgione told investigators he had been using over-the-counter products containing legal forms of steroids because he was a body-builder. He told the city attorney that he assumed he was buying the same legal products from Foley.

"It's just legal steroids, Primos," he insisted to Norton.

In Florida, possession of stanozolol is a third-degree felony. An attempt to conspire or solicit someone for Winstrol V is a first-degree misdemeanor.

When he applied for a job at the Hollywood Police Department, Forgione told officials that he took steroids in 1996 for a body-building contest.

He applied to at least six other South Florida police departments including Boynton Beach, Hollywood, Plantation, Lighthouse Point, Fort Lauderdale and a Miami-Dade law enforcement agency.A city police officer has been fired after a New York police investigation linked him to longtime steroid use and led city officials to discover he lied on personnel records, according to a police internal affairs report released Tuesday.

Under questioning by city officials, officer Anthony Forgione admitted to having a nearly decade-old habit of buying and using anabolic steroids. Further questioning also revealed Forgione violated police personnel policy by withholding information about his applications to other South Florida law enforcement agencies.

Based on those findings, Assistant City Manager George S. Brown fired Forgione April 11.

A police department spokesman would not comment on whether any criminal charges were pending against Forgione.

City Attorney Bob Norton and police officials acted on a tip from a New York news article and approached Forgione, a former New York City police officer, with the allegations in December.

A Sept. 20, 2002, Newsday story about an internal Suffolk County, N.Y., police investigation into suspected illegal drug use by officers mentioned an unnamed Boca Raton police officer.

A wire-tapped conversation on July 21, 2002, caught Forgione attempting to buy Primobolan or Winstrol V steroids from former Suffolk County police officer Thomas Foley, according to the Boca Raton IA report.

"You're going to bring those down to me?" Forgione said on the tape.

"I'll bring them... yeah. I'll bring them down, you know," Foley said.

"Yeah... if you can get Primos or that Winstrol V or something like that," Forgione said.

Forgione either attempted to purchase or use steroids in connection with several other Suffolk County police officers, according to the report.

Winstrol V is a brand name of the controlled substance stanozolol, according to Eugene Odin, a Florida Department of Health pharmacist. It is used by veterinarians and would not be prescribed for humans, Odin said during the investigation.

Forgione told investigators he had been using over-the-counter products containing legal forms of steroids because he was a body-builder. He told the city attorney that he assumed he was buying the same legal products from Foley.

"It's just legal steroids, Primos," he insisted to Norton.

In Florida, possession of stanozolol is a third-degree felony. An attempt to conspire or solicit someone for Winstrol V is a first-degree misdemeanor.

When he applied for a job at the Hollywood Police Department, Forgione told officials that he took steroids in 1996 for a body-building contest.

He applied to at least six other South Florida police departments including Boynton Beach, Hollywood, Plantation, Lighthouse Point, Fort Lauderdale and a Miami-Dade law enforcement agency.