LEBANON, Ohio -- One of 32 people charged in a Tri-State steroid ring went on trial Thursday.
Jessica Howard is the first -- and possibly only -- defendant to go on trial. Many of the other people charged have already accepted pleas.
Howard's fiancé, Matthew Geraci, is the suspected ringleader of "Operation Bulk Up." He testified against Howard Thursday, describing in detail how the operation worked.
"File cabinet with steroids in them … that's how they were shipped," Geraci testified.
Geraci also described how the drugs were dealt using a system of lockers.
"People would text me before and tell me what they wanted. … I would put it in lockers and they would come pick it up and take it out, leave the money, and later on, I would go back and get the money," he testified.
Prosecutors allege Howard delivered the drugs to the lockers from a secret room where the drugs were stashed. Geraci said only three people knew about the location.
"When I'd give her a key, she'd be able to get in," Geraci said about Howard.
Prosecutors said the drugs ended up in the hands of high school athletes and that the money from the sales ended up in Howard's pockets.
"She lived off the proceeds of selling steroids," said assistant prosecutor Andy Sievers.
But Howard's attorney said that she was nothing more than a lover and a stay-at-home mother to Geraci's children.
"Evidence will fail to prove she was a part of this Geraci steroid enterprise," said defense attorney Fran Schiavone Jr. "She fell in love with the wrong man, who controlled her and helped her get here today."
If found guilty, Howard faces up to 20 years in prison.
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Originally Posted by marx 
