Texas man criminally charged for allegedly supplying Olympians with performance-enhancing drugs

A Texas man is facing criminal charges for allegedly supplying performance-enhancing drugs to Olympic athletes before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last year. It is the first time a person has been charged under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, which was enacted in 2020.

Eric Lira, who claims to be a naturopathic and kinesiologist doctor primarily based in El Paso, allegedly obtained banned drugs like human growth hormones and the "blood-building" erythropoietin drug "in advance of and for the purpose of corrupting the 2020 Olympic Games," according to the complaint unsealed Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. The performance-enhancing drugs were misbranded versions of the prescriptions and sourced from Central and South America. Lira then distributed them in the U.S.

The 41-year-old is also accused of communicating with two unnamed Olympic athletes through an encrypted electronic platform, where they discussed the illegal drugs' sales, shipment, effectiveness and the potential testability of the drugs within their system by anti-doping agents.