Body-Building Guru Sits Under Cloud of Steroid Inquiry

Fourteen years ago Jeffrey Feliciano majored in biological science and minored in chemistry at UC Santa Barbara.

Today, at 36, he owns Fountain Valley Research, a laboratory in which federal, state and local authorities suspect anabolic steroids have been illegally manufactured and distributed.

Since his days with the now-defunct Muhammad Ali Sports Inc. amateur boxing and track teams about 1980, Feliciano has become confidant and adviser to college and high school athletes in Orange County.

He has built a reputation in the field of athletics as a body-building guru, often portrayed as having more knowledge about the use of steroids than even physicians.

But in documents filed last week in Orange County Superior Court, authorities outline what they suspect is a conspiracy involving Feliciano and others to practice medicine without a license and to supply prescription drugs without being a licensed pharmacist.

Among those alleged to have received steroids are Fullerton College student athletes and one Fullerton College coach.

No charges have been filed against Feliciano, and authorities say it may be two weeks or longer before testing can determine whether any crimes were committed and, if so, by whom. Authorities continue to sort through carloads of drugs, records and lab equipment confiscated in searches last week of Feliciano’s lab and Fountain Valley home.

Most of those who know Feliciano were shocked to learn of the investigation.

Feliciano could not be reached this week for comment.

But Santa Ana attorney Michael Hughes, who said he represented him, said Friday that Feliciano “will be vindicated through the investigation.”

Hughes declined to comment on whether Feliciano has manufactured, distributed or sold anabolic steroids.

“There was no need for the police to basically trash his laboratory,” Hughes said. “He stood willing to assist them going over the inventory and answering questions. As a result (there was) a tremendous amount of property damage.”

Feliciano is at his Fountain Valley home and has been “very depressed” since police searched his laboratory, Hughes said. The search has disrupted Feliciano’s business, which the attorney said consisted of “running that lab.”

Dr. Thomas Burns, now practicing medicine in Holland, Mich., is listed as a 1% owner of Fountain Valley Research on the firm’s business license.

But in a telephone conversation Friday, Burns said he is not an owner and that he is not involved in research that may have been conducted at the lab. “I had agreed at one time to look into some research they might be doing in the future,” said Burns, who met Feliciano when both were affiliated with Muhammad Ali Sports. Burns said he was medical director and team physician and that Feliciano was attempting to enter the training field.

“I think Jeff was approached by one of the developers of the program to become involved in looking at nutrition and dietary supplements for their training,” Burns said. “There were no steroids used . . . although it was (common knowledge) that steroids as well as other kinds of medical supplements were used by weight lifters and body builders.”

Burns said he personally feels steroids can have “tremendous detrimental side effects . . . if not monitored properly. I did not condone steroids. . . .”

He added, however, that “Jeff Feliciano’s understanding of steroids and knowledge of steroids is probably way ahead of most of the people in the country.”

“I knew (Feliciano’s research) was going to be involved with steroids,” Burns said. “It was my understanding that he was doing this through UCLA, but that was just pure hearsay from him. I agreed to look at the research and give it a clinical or scientific critiquing.”

Burns said, however, that Feliciano never sent him research results.

Ozzie Schmidt, a state food and drug investigator who was along on last week’s searches of the laboratory and residences, said research conducted at a university would not permit the manufacture, distribution or administering of anabolic steroids and “certainly not in the manner or volume” authorities suspect was occurring at Fountain Valley Research.

Attempts Friday to determine whether Feliciano was involved in anabolic steroid research in conjunction with UCLA were unsuccessful. A UCLA Medical School spokesman said there was no record of Feliciano in the medical school’s academic records or on the university’s graduate student rolls.

Nevertheless, when it comes to anabolic steroids and weight training, few know more than Jeff Feliciano, according to many people interviewed who know him personally and by reputation.

They say Feliciano has written numerous articles on steroids for body-building magazines and gained respect from many top athletes, including former Rams All-Pro Jack Youngblood, who adopted some of Feliciano’s novel weight-lifting techniques.

Private Gym Training

According to Fountain Valley High Football Coach Mike Milner, Feliciano persuaded several of the high school’s football players three years ago to train with him privately at Howard’s Gym, in Fountain Valley, a body-building center frequented by many of the area’s top athletes, including members of the Los Angeles Rams. The gym has since closed.

Dr. Nick Daramus, a Fountain Valley chiropractor who conducted his practice, Chiropractic Sports Clinic, in an office shared by Howard’s Gym, said: “He (Feliciano) probably knew more and had done more up-to-date research on synthetics (drugs) than anybody to my knowledge. But it was all on the positive side, not just the financial side. He wrote for journals.”

Daramus, a former competitive weight lifter himself, said Feliciano was a member of the gymnasium and that the two spent many hours discussing steroids and body-building technique.

Daramus said none of the Los Angeles Rams whom he treated were involved with steroids. He said he personally never used steroids in training and has dissuaded more than 100 athletes from using the drug.

Youngblood was among those treated by Daramus and who knew Feliciano well.

Called Great Trainer

“I can’t believe it,” Youngblood said when he learned last week of police searching Feliciano’s home and laboratory. “I’ve known him (Feliciano) for two or three years and I’ve known him to be a fine individual. He was a great trainer. He was up on the most recent techniques for building strength. He was convinced that training could enhance your ability.”

Youngblood said he was unaware that Feliciano was involved in any way with steroids.

Daramus said steroid usage usually involves athletes who are less talented and looking for an edge in training. But Daramus said that if athletes are going to use the drug, it would be some consolation to him if they dealt with an expert in the field.

Some athletes, of course, believe the use of anabolic steroids, synthetic derivatives of the male hormone, testosterone, helps build muscle tissue.

But some physicians who have studied the side effects of steroid use believe there is a link between the drug and heart disease, liver disease, swelling of the breasts in males and abnormal hair growth in women and arrested growth in juveniles.

Willing to Take Risk

“They’re loony,” Dr. Bob Goldman, director of sports medicine at Chicago’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, said of steroid users. “These kids don’t care if they die. They don’t relate to death.”

But Goldman, a leading expert on steroids, said many athletes are willing to take the risk.

Assemblyman Gary A. Condit (D--Modesto) said Friday that he will introduce a bill next week to toughen penalties for the illegal sale of anabolic steroids. He said he has other legislation pending to establish steroid education programs in schools.

Under current law, Condit said, sale of steroids without a prescription is a misdemeanor. The new legislation, he said, would give prosecutors the discretion to file felony charges, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $10,000 fine.

“There is a tremendous abuse right now with people who are unaware of the health hazard,” Condit said. “We believe there’s enough medical evidence to show it (anabolic steroids) does shorten lives . . . and warrant the legislation.

Not Informed of Risks

“The problem has now filtered down not only in college programs, but high school programs where we have young people who are encouraged by their peers or coaches, who are not informed about the health risks. We had stories of kids who had been encouraged by coaches or friends. All they want to do is perform at a better level . . . and possibly get a scholarship and play professional football.

“We would like to let junior high and high school students know . . . there will be some biological changes to your body. Your personality could be changed also.”

At its recent convention in New Orleans, the NCAA adopted rules that establish drug testing for athletes and also banned the use of anabolic steroids in competition. The International Olympic Committee banned use of steroids in 1974.