Steroids dealer found dead at North Texas home

[Goldenfleece]

Steroids dealer found dead at North Texas home

By SCHUYLER DIXON, Associated Press Writer

PLANO, Texas (AP)—A convicted steroids dealer who recently met with NFL security officials and gave them names of players he said bought steroids from him was found shot to death in his home Thursday, police said.

Early Thursday morning, Plano police made a welfare check and found 35-year-old David Jacobs and 30-year-old Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell dead. Police said both had been shot to death.

Police spokesman Rick McDonald said the officers were making a welfare check after relatives of Earhart-Savell expressed concern about her whereabouts.

Plano detectives aren’t releasing information about whether the deaths were a double homicide or a murder-suicide, whether a weapon was found near the bodies, or any other details, McDonald said.

Jacobs was sentenced to three years probation and fined $25,000 on May 1 after pleading guilty last year in federal court in Dallas to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute anabolic steroids.

Hank Hockeimer, Jacobs’ attorney, has told The Dallas Morning News that Jacobs then met with NFL security officials in the Dallas area on May 21 and gave them names of players he said bought steroids from him. Hockeimer didn’t immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press on Thursday.

Hockeimer has declined to publicly say which players bought steroids from Jacobs. But Jacobs had publicly said he sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of performance-enhancing drugs to former Dallas Cowboys player Matt Lehr in 2006 and 2007. Lehr has also played for Tampa Bay and Atlanta.

Lehr’s attorney, Paul Coggins, has said the player hasn’t used banned substances since he was suspended for four games during the 2006 season while playing for Atlanta, and has since passed NFL drug tests. The attorney has also said Jacobs’ allegations were retaliation because Lehr wouldn’t pay Jacobs’ legal fees.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello offered condolences to the families of Jacobs and Earhart-Savell and said the league was reviewing information provided by Jacobs in two interviews with security officials.

“It is premature to comment on any specific player at this time,” Aiello said in a statement. “Anyone found to have violated our policies will be subject to discipline, including suspension.”

Neighbors who were still gathered at the scene about 12 hours after officers arrived said they became aware of Jacobs through television news reports, but didn’t know him well. They said they didn’t see any suspicious activity or hear any gunshots.

One neighbor who reached out to Jacobs after his guilty plea by asking him to warn children about the dangers of drugs said she didn’t believe police when they told her he was dead.

“Knowing somebody died this way, it’s hard to take,” Yeharerwerk Gashaw said. “I was shocked.”

Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle and Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed to this report.