Feds accuse cop
of distributing
growth hormoneThe bodybuilder faces
charges of selling a
steroid-like chemical
A Honolulu police officer who is also a bodybuilder appeared in federal court yesterday charged with distributing growth hormones without a prescription.
Eddie B. Belluomini, 32, a patrolman for the past 10 years and currently assigned to District 1- Honolulu, is expected to appear in federal court again today for a detention hearing.
Deputy Public Defender Alexander Silvert said yesterday he is confident conditions can be worked out to allow Belluomini to be released pending further court proceedings given his exceptional record as a police officer and service to the community.
There is no mandatory minimum for the offense Belluomini is charged with and, compared to other drug offenses, this is not as serious as being charged with dealing cocaine or crystal methamphetamine, Silvert said.
However, "it's always a serious matter when police officers are arrested by federal authorities," he added.
Belluomini was arrested Friday.
At his initial appearance yesterday in U.S. District Court, Belluomini, wearing a light blue federal prison uniform, rarely looked up and responded softly to the court's questions.
He appeared distraught and repeatedly shook his head and muttered to himself during the proceeding.
Silvert confirmed his client was upset.
"It's very disturbing and upsetting to be in this setting," he said.
According to a criminal complaint filed yesterday, Belluomini appears to have been under investigation since last September after an informant for the FBI reported purchasing steroids and Serostim from him.
Serostim is the trade name of a genetically engineered growth hormone manufactured by Serono Laboratories that has been approved by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services primarily to treat patients "wasting" from AIDS or to treat infant dwarfism, according to an affidavit filed by Arnold Laanui Jr., a special agent with the FBI.
Serostim has become well-known for its steroid-like qualities and effects and has become popular among competitive bodybuilders, Laanui wrote.
Belluomini was seen alleged-ly conducting a total of five transactions -- the latest on May 8.
The FBI informant contacted Belluomini on his cellular phone on Nov. 13 and the officer subsequently agreed to sell two boxes of Serostim for $1,200, according to an affidavit.
On Nov. 15 federal agents witnessed the informant giving Belluomini money at Restaurant Row and later that afternoon, meeting Belluomini at the Dole Signature Theaters on Iwilei Road and leaving with one box of Serostim, according to the affidavit.
The next morning, agents witnessed Belluomini -- wearing his HPD uniform and with the blue light atop his Jeep Cherokee -- arrive at the theaters and give the informant a manila envelope that contained the second box of Serostim, the affidavit said.
Belluomini has since been seen conducting similar deals on April 3, April 15 and May 8, the affidavit said.
If convicted, Belluomini faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison and it "could cost him his job," Silvert said.
On Nov. 16, 2000, Belluomini competed in the Paradise Cup body-building competition as a novice and took third-place in the event's middle-weight division.
Belluomini, who was awarded the department's Certificate of Merit in June 1998 for dissuading a man from jumping off a ledge, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, police said.