A doctor accused of illegally prescribing steroids supplied Hulk Hogan, "Rowdy Roddy" Piper and other pro wrestlers with the bodybuilding drugs, sources said.
Dr. George Zahorian III, an osteopath and urologic surgeon, goes on trial Monday on charges of distributing or intending to distribute steroids and other controlled substances. He was indicted earlier this year.The indictment accuses Zahorian of supplying anabolic steroids to five wrestlers from 1988 to 1990.
The indictment identifies each wrestler by the name John Doe, but three sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in separate interviews that the five are Hogan, Piper, Rick Martel, Brian Blair and Dan Spivey.
Meanwhile, The New York Times quoted Zahorian's attorney, William Costopoulos, on Thursday as saying Hogan, Piper, Martel, Blair and Spivey were the five.
U.S. Attorney Theodore Smith III refused to identify the wrestlers, but he said none face charges because steroid use was not a federal crime during the period covered in the indictment.
The sources said Hogan's lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, has asked U.S. District Judge William Caldwell to keep his client from testifying at the trial. Caldwell was expected to rule Thursday.
McDevitt did not return calls to his office Wednesday.