Bendel, who is currently free on bond, will be sentenced on March 12. He could receive 18 years behind bars in the prison system where he once was a guard.
“I have no choice but to send you to prison. Be prepared to go,” Judge Daniel Flannery told Bendel in court.
Bendel was caught with vials of “Masteron 100,” “Sustanon 250,” and Testosterone 17-Phenlyproprionate on March 26 in the parking lot of a Middletown restaurant on Towne Boulevard, according to court documents. Drugs were also found at his Roberts Road residence.
Defense attorney Jonathan Fox said Bendel has no prior record, worked in the prison system for 20 years and served in the military. He got caught up in being the “strongest man” on the job in an environment where guards are not armed, Fox said.
Anthony G. Conn, 41, of Miamisburg, the other former lieutenant, is scheduled to appear in court today and could reach a plea deal as well.
Conn and Bendel were arrested and indicted in September on 70 criminal charges.
The Warren County Drug Task Force conducted a nine-month investigation into illegal steroid use, distribution and manufacture among staff at the close-security state prison.
Conn is facing 32 counts of drug trafficking, 15 counts of drug possession, and single counts of endangering children, permitting drug abuse and illegal manufacture of drugs.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said Conn ordered raw materials from China, assembled the drugs in his home — sometimes in the vicinity of a juvenile — and then both used the steroids and sold them. Bendel was both a user and a seller of Conn’s products, Fornshell said.
Anabolic steroids are performance-enhancing drugs sometimes used in body building, which can increase muscle mass and strength. They are considered dangerous drugs under state law and can have harmful side effects.
The case started with a tip to the Warren County Drug Task Force, which worked in concert with the Ohio Highway Patrol and the Lebanon Correctional Institution. As the investigation progressed, a sting operation caught Conn and Bendel actively trafficking the drugs, Fornshell said.
Conn and Bendel each abruptly resigned from their state prison jobs in April without giving notice. Both men started working in the prison system in 1994 and had received positive performance reviews. Bendel was named the prison’s Officer of the Year in 2002 for thwarting a drug-smuggling attempt.
The prison, which opened in 1960, employs 526 and houses 2,602 inmates, mostly in close security, one step down from maximum security.
Conn earned $56,000 last year, according to state payroll records, and Bendel made $55,600.
Fornshell and Drug Task Force Commander John Burke noted they do not believe the drugs got into the hands of high school athletes.
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