Posted on: Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Former police officer gets probation

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

A former police officer who illegally sold a human growth hormone when he was on the police force was placed on three years of federal probation yesterday, fined $1,000 and ordered to remain at home for 60 days.

Eddie Belluomini, 33, a 12-year HPD veteran who resigned in June after pleading guilty earlier to five illegal sales in 2002 and 2003, told U.S. District Judge David Ezra he was embarrassed, ashamed and "100 percent sorry."

Ezra went along with a recommendation by assistant U.S. attorney Loretta Sheehan for probation, but added the 60-day home confinement because he said the problem with the hormone used by bodybuilders is "serious" and he fears youngsters might want to take them to help them in sports activities.

Ezra also said the federal sentencing guidelines are too lenient for the crime involving the hormone.

Belluomini's lawyer, Michael Green, argued that his client has already paid dearly with the loss of his job, which he had dreamed about since he was a teenager. Green said his client was so caught up in his bodybuilding hobby that he never equated the drug with a crime, but is now genuinely remorseful.

With his voice almost cracking, Belluomini said he was "truly sorry" for whatever negative impact his case has on his fellow officers. He said he wished he could have taken the time to think about what he was doing because "deep down" he knew it was wrong.

Belluomini promised that he will better himself and won't ever return to court. "Hopefully, something good can come from something bad," he said.

The hormone is used by AIDS patients to deal with the physical wasting process, but is sometimes sold to bodybuilders. Federal officials say the hormone helps grow bones and muscle, Sheehan told the judge, and there is evidence to link the hormone to cancer in athletes.

Ezra said that while it's not proven that the hormone causes cancer, it nevertheless causes "tragic and irreversible changes to the body."

He noted that Belluomini enjoyed an "excellent reputation as a police officer" and said it was "tragic" that he sold the hormone.

"I think he lost perspective and as a law-enforcement officer, you can't lose perspective," the judge said.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.