Aaron Singerman and Phillip “PJ” Braun are very prominent figures in the fitness industry and now they are facing some pretty serious Federal charges along with several others involved in illegal activity. Singerman is the CEO of supplement company of Redcon 1 and PJ Braun is the owner/president of Blackstone Labs both located in Fl.
But now, things have gone south pretty quickly as they are facing prison time for allegedly interlacing supplements deemed safe with illegal anabolic substances which were sold to thousands of customers. To make matters worse, they are also facing money laundering and illegal steroid distribution charges.
The Department of Justice has released a full statement regarding the federal indictment against everyone involved and it goes into more detail on the investigation.
Here’s are the first few paragraphs of the statement but you can read the full letter on the Department of Justice website.
“Six people and two Florida corporations were charged in an indictment for their roles in a scheme to distribute illegal dietary supplements, the Department of Justice announced today.
Phillip Braun, 38, of Boca Raton, Florida, Aaron Singerman, 39, of Delray Beach, Florida, Robert DiMaggio, 49, of Henderson, Nevada, Anthony Ventrella, 41, of Boynton Beach, Florida, David Winsauer, 32, of Boca Raton, Florida, and James Boccuzzi, 34, of Parkland, Florida, were charged in a 14-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury in Miami, Florida on March 7, 2019, and was unsealed today. The indictment also charged Blackstone Labs and Ventech Labs, two Florida limited liability companies in Palm Beach County, Florida.
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The indictment alleges that the defendants sold hundreds of thousands of illegal products, including anabolic steroids, nationwide and internationally, fraudulently representing that those products and pills were high-quality, legal dietary supplements. According to the indictment, the defendants created an illicit manufacturing company and routed sales of illegal products through trusted distributors, knowing that the products were unsafe or could not legally be sold to consumers”.
Braun and Singerman could face lengthy prison time if charged because:
“The maximum punishment for the conspiracy to defraud is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The maximum punishment for each of the two counts of introducing an unapproved new drug is three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense,” according to the statement.
Since steroids are a schedule III controlled substance,
“The maximum punishment for the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances is 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $500,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense”.
To get an even better idea of how serious these charges are…
“The maximum punishment for each count of distribution of a controlled substance and for the count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute is 10 years in prison and a fine of $500,000”.
And for money laundering charges…
“the maximum punishment for each money laundering charge is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount of the property involved in the money laundering transaction”.
Aaron Singerman and PJ Braun are being charged with many “alleged crimes” and their futures are at big risk if they are proven guilty. But we have to wait for the verdict to make definitive statements regarding the case; which most likely won’t be for a while due to the seriousness of the federal charges.