OAKLAND — Taking the stand against his friend and former colleague, an ex-Antioch police officer on Monday described a multi-state network of law enforcement officers — including at least a half dozen in the East Bay — who peddled illegal anabolic steroids shipped in from Florida.
The ex-officer, Daniel Harris, testified to purchasing the drugs, then selling or distributing them to several Contra Costa sheriff’s deputies and officers, including ex-Antioch cop Devon Wenger, who is accused of buying and conspiring to distribute the synthetic testosterone.
At the start of Wenger’s trial on Monday, Harris listed at least 10 people who bought steroids from him, including at least three with ties to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and other past and present Antioch or Pittsburg police officers. He said that he’d often sell his own personal stash or place orders for them with a seller out of Florida, who then mailed packages to California.
The trial represents yet another legal fight for Wenger, who remains the only one of 14 East Contra Costa County law enforcement officers not to plead guilty or be convicted at trial in a broad range of crimes, ranging from getting fake college degrees to boost their paychecks, to terrorizing residents for sport using police dogs and foam-bullet launchers.
His most recent trial on federal charges of conspiracy and civil rights abuses last month ended in a mistrial after his former attorney tearfully told a judge she needed more help from her law firm to adequately represent him. His co-defendant in that case, ex-Antioch K9 Officer Morteza Amiri, was convicted of multiple felonies, while Wenger’s trial was pushed to July.
On Monday, prosecutors painted Wenger as an enthusiastic newcomer to the world of anabolic steroids — going so far as allegedly connecting a friend to his dealer just days after his first injection.
“This was not a case about someone who just bought steroids for his own use,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Chen said.
In a black suit and grey tie, Wenger often shook his head and sat with a set jaw while prosecutors laid out their claims. Meanwhile, his attorney questioned the government’s motives.
“There is no evidence that Mr. Wenger was in possession of steroids,” said the attorney, Dena Young. “There is no evidence that he distributed steroids to anyone else.”
At the center of the case is Harris, a former Antioch officer who was indicted alongside Wenger in August 2023 but agreed to testify against him after pleading guilty to three counts of illegal steroid possession and distribution, and another charge of bank fraud.. A former Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy, Harris joined the Antioch Police Department in 2015 and quickly struck a friendship with Wenger that extended to the point of Wenger buying Harris’ house in Discovery Bay after a divorce.
Federal prosecutors say Wenger came to Harris again in 2022, as he was training to become a Green Beret in the Army’s Special Forces. In text messages aired in court Monday, Wenger approached Harris, about “some test or growth s— in my life,” allegedly referring to testosterone and human growth hormone.
“I’m tired of being lean, bro,” Wenger allegedly wrote. “I just want to be a f—— animal.”
“Well you are an animal,” Harris texted back. “We can just make you a bigger, more vascular animal. Lol”
Prosecutors say Wenger met up with Harris the following month, in February 2022, and sent him a Venmo payment for $290. Wenger wrote in the app that the money was for: “Nutrition program, workout program. GET HUGE BRO.”
Within days, Wenger texted Harris to report that he was “stoked” about the results, adding he felt “f—– juicy bro.” His only regret, according to the texts, was not asking for the chemicals sooner.
“Welcome to the anabolic club!” Harris replied, before adding a word of caution suggesting that “I’d keep it hush you are taking anything” to people at the police department, lest Wenger end up “blacklisted.”
That same month, prosecutors say Wenger connected another man — a fellow Green Beret hopeful who was enlisted in the California National Guard but living in Oregon — with Harris, also to buy anabolic steroids. Prosecutors say the subsequent package of steroids meant for that national guardsman was intercepted by U.S. postal inspectors on its way from Florida to California.
Wenger’s attorney flatly said she didn’t dispute that an Antioch officer conspired to buy anabolic steroids. “But that’s not Mr. Wenger,” Young said. “That’s Daniel Harris.”
She described Harris as a man who was at the center of a vast steroid ring stretching to Utah. But Young said Harris told none of that to Wenger.
“Mr. Harris didn’t put himself out there as a drug dealer – he was a bodybuilder. He sold himself as a nutritional counselor and a coach,” Young said. The attorney followed a familiar playbook in prior trials of Antioch officers, questioning the motives of Harris’ cooperation with prosecutors — referencing the plea deal that Harris took, which required him to testify against his friend.
“His fate is in the hands of the government,” Young said of Harris. “He’s been interviewed many times by the government, and his story keeps changing.”
Harris said he first turned to anabolic steroids as a means to help recover after a car crash. But he continued using — and significantly upped his dosages — when he decided to become a bodybuilder and enter tournaments across the nation.
Harris, 38, said he now regrets illegally buying and using steroids “every day.” As a side effect of his years of illegal steroid use, Harris’ body only produces a fraction of the amount of testosterone necessary for a man his age. And on Monday, he spoke unflinchingly about why he chose to take the stand against Wenger.
“I have two children, 9 and 12, and just trying to show them that we’re people, we make mistakes,” said Harris, adding that it was important for people to take account for their actions. “In the end, you always got to do the right thing.”
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