Steroid cases worry Boca police

Since April, two officers have left the department after separate internal investigations concluded they solicited steroids while on the force. In one case, the officer neglected his job because of his obsession with pumping iron, his superiors said.

City officials fired 39-year-old officer Anthony Forgione on April 11 for allegedly using anabolic steroids and lying on his job application. Officer Keith Liesenfelt resigned June 2 while being investigated for allegedly using several forms of the drug.

Three new officers have been sworn in since the investigations ended, but Scott said the allegations have some of the 154 police officers on the force worrying that the incidents could damage the department's reputation.

"They are extremely disturbed that the integrity of the office they are sworn to has been tarnished," he said. "We want the public to rest assured we are diligently dealing with these issues."

But such reassurances may be difficult to give for the next few months. Random drug tests currently do not screen for steroids. Scott said he plans to change that.

Forgione and Liesenfelt were taking steroids as amateur body-builders, according to police records.

The Boca Raton Police Department encourages physical training by allowing officers to work out three hours a week at the department's gymnasium as part of their weekly schedule.

Forgione had worked as fitness trainer for the New York City police, where he worked for seven years. Within his first year on the Boca Raton police force, he wrote a proposal to redesign its gym and hoped to become the fitness trainer for his fellow officers.

"I spent countless hours of my time researching, meeting with equipment sales reps and formulating a plan so our officers could have a fully equipped weight-training and cardiovascular facility," Forgione wrote in his first personnel review in March 2001.

Scott and other high-ranking police officials commended Forgione in his annual reviews for his initiative. But Forgione's enthusiasm for his own workouts also drew reprimands from his superiors. He became known as a "lazy" officer who once failed to answer his radio while working out.

"Officer Forgione was neglecting many of his duties in order to work out," Sgt. Thomas Ceccarelli wrote in a summary of the officer's performance. "As a result, his workout privileges were suspended."

Another sergeant noted that "most of Officer Forgione's security complaints were conducted early in his shift, and that he slacked off the rest of the day," Ceccarelli added.

Ceccarelli told Forgione on March 6, 2002, that his behavior jeopardized his reputation with other officers.

"I indicated to Officer Forgione the need for his initiated activities to increase and about the negative image he had developed, i.e., that he was viewed as lazy," Ceccarelli later wrote.

Forgione was fired following Boca Raton's investigation, which was sparked by a New York police internal investigation into steroid sales among cops. Forgione's attorney, Jason Dalley, said Forgione faces no criminal charges.

"There's not a chance that Mr. Forgione had any intent to purchase any illegal steroids whatsoever," Dalley said.

Forgione and Liesenfelt had alleged relationships with steroid dealers through a local gym or health food store. Each told his dealer he used steroids as part of his exercise routine, according to police reports.

Liesenfelt said he put on nearly thirty pounds using the steroid Sustenan. According to an internal affairs report, Forgione told his alleged dealer he used steroids such as Winstrol V or Primobolan. He also admitted to using marijuana to a police official when he applied to the Hollywood Police Department.

Based on a wire-tapped phone conversation, authorities learned Forgione wanted to get the steroid Winstrol V.

"There's no way in the world you can find one (Winstrol V) without a prescription," said Eugene Odin, a pharmacist and drug agent for the Florida Department of Health.

Winstrol V is a veterinary drug often prescribed to horses, Odin said.

"It would be legal (only) if a vet wrote a prescription for an animal," he said in a recent interview.

Primobolan is not sold in the United States, according to the report.

Liesenfelt bought a form of Winstrol and Sustenan in more than one sale, according to another internal affairs report.

Liesenfelt befriended a supplier three months before he began buying a steady monthly supply of steroids from him in gyms, residences and even a local mall, according to investigators. The unidentified supplier told investigators Liesenfelt began buying steroids after he became a police officer.

An attorney for Liesenfelt could not be located and his family members declined comment.

Boca Raton police officials have commended Liesenfelt's "calm demeanor" in job reviews, but disciplined him for one "abusive" action. In January 2002, Liesenfelt received a 24-hour suspension and a written reprimand after investigators concluded he showed improper behavior by using profanity and striking a woman's vehicle with his flashlight.

Liesenfelt, who joined the force on July 2, 2001, had also worked for six months for Sunny Isles Police Department.

Sports experts say anyone involved in athletic competitions could be lured by the results steroids offer, including increased muscle mass. Yet steroids can also lead to damaging side effects such as serious liver problems.

"Unfortunately, it's a temptation because it's a simpler way of getting the results you were looking for," said Larry Levin, director of the sports medicine program at Florida Atlantic University and an orthopedic surgeon. "It's amazing some lengths these people will go to."

Though disappointed by the incidents, the Boca Raton police chief says he'll continue to be unrelenting in seeking out corrupt police officers.

"Law enforcement is the only profession that scrutinizes its personnel to ensure they are performing to the standards they were hired for and removes them from the profession" (if they are not), Scott said. "A vast majority of law enforcement are hard-working, self-sacrificing, ethical individuals."