Argonne Employee Accused of Dealing in Steroids

An Oak Lawn man accused of importing steroids from China for the last five years and processing them in a home laboratory faces federal charges of possession of a control substance with intent to distribute, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Joseph T. Palermo, 33, who works at the Argonne National Laboratory near Lemont, was arrested Thursday. His illicit side business manufacturing and distributing drugs would net him $2,000 a month in extra income, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Federal authorities said Palermo would take anabolic steroids in liquid and powder form and manufacture them into a product he could sell to dealers. Investigators said he would also import human growth hormone and other pharmaceuticals.

The feds were put on Palermo’s trail in June after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in San Francisco intercepted a package bound for a Northlake home, according to authorities. Another package was intercepted in July, this time addressed to a P.O. box in Elmhurst. His Oak Lawn home was raided in early September, and pills, laboratory equipment, $9,000 in cash and firearms were seized.