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Todd Matherne Sues the State Citing Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Convicted steroid dealer Todd Matherne owes $47 million dollars in taxes to the Louisiana Department of Revenue for steroids he sold under the Zencall Labs label. Matherne was arres ted on March 7, 2005 along with this girlfriend and father during the culmination of a two-year investigation by the Louisiana State Police into the illegal manufacture and distribution of anabolic steroids. Matherne subsequently pleaded guilty to six steroid-related charges and was sentenced to seven years in state prison. He has since been released and has attempted to “rebuild his life.”

Todd Matherne alleges that he was never advised about the stamp tax assessed on his steroid business when he pleaded guilty. He first learned about the $47 million dollar tax lien against when he tried to secure a mortgage to buy a new house. "At no time did anyone tell Todd Matherne that he owed forty-seven million dollars to the state of Louisiana when he entered into the plea agreement," according to a lawsuit filed by Matherne’s attorney Paul Lapeyrouse challenging the Louisiana “drug stamp law”.

The lawsuit calls the $47 million tax unconstitutional in violation of the Constitutional prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment”. “Most people earn but a small fraction of that amount in a lifetime,” said Lapeyrouse. “The enormity of this burden will effectively deny to him any semblance of a normal life.”

How did the State of Louisiana arrive at a $47 million dollar tax bill for Todd Matherne?

The tax stamp law specifies a $200 tax per gram of anabolic steroids if sold by weight or $400 tax per 10 dosage units. This would effectively tax a bottle of testosterone cypionate at $400 and 100 tablets of Dianabol at $4000! Of course, the likely black market price for each of these products was likely no more than a couple hundred dollars at the most in 2005. And since Matherne failed to purchase the tax stamps at the time, the tax was doubled. Is an $8000 state tax on 100 tablets of Dianabol “cruel and unusual punishment”?

Admittedly, Todd and Edward Matherne were large scale distributors of anabolic steroids using the underground lab name of Zencall Labs. They were caught with enormous quantities of processed and raw anabolic steroids when the Louisiana State Police busted them on March 7, 2005. The oral steroids seized at their apartment(s) included 10,180 tablets and 300 capsules of stanozolol (aka Winstrol), 6,440 tablets of oxymetholone (aka Anadrol), 3,500 tablets and 1,900 capsules of Cialis, 1500 tamoxifen capsules (Nolvadex), 800 Anabol capsules, 2,400 Clomid capsules and 600 Dianabol capsules. They were also caught with 727 vials of injectable anabolic steroids and several pounds of raw steroid powder and other chemicals and precursors materials.

Todd Matherne’s lawsuit targets the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Department of Revenue, Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz, Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois and Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell. “This is a total frivolous suit,” said Bill Dodd, the legal representation for the Sheriff’s Office. “I don’t see how the sheriff or DA has to do with this. It’s a shame this is going to take up the court’s time.”

Sources

“Lawsuit aimed at 'drug stamp' law,” April 11, 2009

“Drug dealer fights $47 million side effect,” April 10, 2009

“Large Drug Distribution Ring Broken in Terrebonne Parish,” March 10, 2005

By Millard Baker

http://www.millardbaker.com

www.SteroidsRx.com