Dr. admits to steroid sales

A former Costa Mesa doctor linked to the Major League Baseball steroid scandal has pleaded guilty in San Jose to illegally distributing steroids and laundering money.

Dr. Ramon Scruggs, 61, faces up to 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines related to illegally purchasing steroids and human growth hormone from China between 2000 and 2003 and laundering the money to hide it from authorities.

Scruggs pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors Wednesday.

Scruggs ran the New Hope Health Center in Costa Mesa, where he distributed up to 1,000 vials of anabolic steroids to people around the country, usually without a face-to-face consultation.

In one example of money laundering, Scruggs had an employee transfer $3,605 from his bank account to an account in China

Before his guilty plea earlier this week, the state medical board put Scruggs on probation for five years in lieu of revoking his license. He previously had his license revoked in 2007.

In former Sen. George Mitchell’s report on steroids in baseball released in 2007, Scruggs and his Costa Mesa business were linked to the former Angels’ 2002 World Series MVP Troy Glaus and Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Scott Schoeneweis.

Scruggs is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 14 in San Jose.