A Las Vegas, Nevada, man who made millions of dollars by selling illegal steroids online was sentenced in federal court for his role in a money-laundering conspiracy.
Michael R. Breitel, 39, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to three years and 10 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Breitel to forfeit to the government $2,749,363, which represents the proceeds he obtained as a result of his criminal activity, and which will be offset by $403,735 seized from his bank account and the proceeds from the sale of four parcels of real estate in Nevada.
On Oct. 11, 2022, Breitel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Breitel admitted that he and co-defendant Mario Arreola-Soria, 37, of Las Vegas, operated a business known as STACKMEUP from October 2017 through October 2021. STACKMEUP offered various prescription drugs available for purchase without a prescription to customers throughout the United States. Many of the drugs offered for sale were anabolic steroids. Other products available on STACKMEUP are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in humans.
Investigators executed a search warrant at two storage units in Nevada on Nov. 3, 2021, that contained STACKMEUP products. Federal agents seized 2,371,800 units of anabolic steroids with a street value of more than $1.7 million.
Breitel also admitted that he conspired with others to conduct financial transactions that involved the proceeds of the conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. STACKMEUP customers, who paid for the anabolic steroids and associated drugs with cash or through a number of different peer-to-peer payment processors (such as Venmo, Zelle, Square, Paypal, and Google Pay), were instructed to describe the transaction as a “Gift” because the payment processors would cancel payments if the real reason for the payment was used as the description.
During the course of the illegal anabolic steroid conspiracy, Breitel purchased four real estate properties in Las Vegas, totaling more than $1.2 million, with proceeds from the money laundering conspiracy. All the properties were purchased with cash and without a mortgage.
The federal investigation began when investigators intercepted a package shipped to a bodybuilder, who said he purchased the products from STACKMEUP over Wickr (an encrypted communication application that automatically deletes all messages). The bodybuilder learned of STACKMEUP while at a bodybuilding event in St. Louis, Mo. Agents made seven undercover purchases from STACKMEUP during the investigation. Some of the purchased drugs were tested and, in several instances, the product did not contain the active pharmaceutical ingredient that was claimed or contained different ingredients.
Arreola-Soria was sentenced on May 3, 2023, to three years in federal prison without parole.
This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Cooper. It was investigated by Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Johnson County, Kan., Sheriff’s Department and the Henderson, Nevada, Police Department.
