Cleburne paramedic charged with illegally obtaining steroids via net

Jenny Miller
10-13-2005

A Cleburne County paramedic has been charged with illegally obtaining large amounts of anabolic steroids via the Internet. Authorities allege that Donald Neil Cofer, 30, of Oxford, ordered 38 vials of steroids from Romania, and that he has been ordering about the same amount from various sources every month for a few years. Thirty-eight vials a month is more than one person could use, said Sgt. Richard Smith of the Calhoun-Cleburne County Drug Task Force. “From the information we’ve got, he’s been getting some type of controlled substance over the Internet for three years,” Smith said. “We’ve been getting tips that he was involved in drug-related activities for a long time.” Cofer faces charges of unlawful receipt of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released Tuesday from the Cleburne County Jail on a $200,000 bond. “There are more charges pending in relation to the other drugs we found in his home,” Smith said. Cofer worked with Cleburne County Emergency Services since at least 1997, according to Anniston Star archives, and was director of Emergency Medical Services in Cleburne County in 2003. He was an instructor at Gadsden State Community College, Smith said. “Donald is no longer an employee of our department,” said Todd Langley, current director of Cleburne Emergency Services. Langley said Cofer was dismissed at least partly because of the charges. Cofer was the representative for the Cleburne County Emergency Services on the sidelines of Cleburne County High School football games this year and last year, Superintendent Scott Coefield said. He never was employed by the school system. “He wasn’t around the kids much,” Coefield said. “We don’t think he had any interaction with them.” Langley said Cofer’s time with the football team was strictly on a volunteer basis. “He truly cared about those kids,” Langley added. Drug Task Force agents had Cofer’s post office box flagged after they got information that he was ordering drugs by mail, Smith said. When he received the package of steroids, investigators said they opened it, found the drugs, then put them back and waited for Cofer to pick them up. Agents with the Calhoun-Cleburne County Drug Task Force, ABC Board and U.S. Postal Inspectors arrested Cofer Thursday as he walked out of the Heflin Post Office with a package, Smith said, came from Romania, and they obtained a warrant to search his house in Oxford. Officials allege they found various pills and more steroids there. Cofer could not be reached for comment. Asked whether additional arrests might be made in connection with the incident, Smith said the case remains under investigation.

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