Revealed: Victorian gym junkies busted for crime
They’ve been busted dealing drugs, bashing innocent people or being sex pests. Here are some of the state’s most notorious gym junkie criminals.
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From a muscleman model who peddled cocaine to undercover cops, and a bodybuilder who masterminded a multimillion dollar dark web steroid trafficking network, to a beefed-up serial sex pest who posed as a woman on a hook up app to lure and rape a man.
These are some of the most notorious gym junkies who have ended up on the wrong side of the law.
Ak Moslehi Roudi
Muscleman model Armin (AK) Moslehi Roudi pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in May after he peddled cocaine to undercover cops at various Melbourne locations including a deal which went down at a notorious tattoo shop.
Moslehi Roudi, 33, slung cocaine, MDMA and meth to undercover police after covert cops launched a sting on the personal trainer in January 2019.
Moslehi Roudi, who the court heard worked as a VIP manager at strip club Dreams Gentleman’s Club, kicked off his racket at South Melbourne tattoo shop City of Ink.
Roudi sold the undercover cop another 14g of cocaine for $4000 in a deal which took place at West Melbourne.
The model, formerly known as Armin Moslehi Roudi, suggested the cop purchase ounces of cocaine.
Moslehi Roudi sold the cop an ounce of cocaine just days later at South Melbourne eatery Hunky Dory.
The competition bodybuilder’s drug trafficking modus operandi continued for several weeks until he was introduced to a second covert cop.
Moslehi Roudi, from West Melbourne, trafficked seven ounces of cocaine in exchange for $58,000 via various deals between January and August 2019.
Police raided Moslehi Roudi’s home and seized cocaine, meth, MDMA, cash, scales, a drug scoop, weapons, police-marked tasers and mobile phones.
Moslehi Roudi, who also pleaded guilty to trafficking meth and MDMA, gave “no comment” in relation to his drug dealing.
Mark Matthews and Torryn Wilhelm
Bodybuilder dad Mark Matthews, 36, was jailed for a minimum of three years in February after pleading guilty to masterminding a multimillion-dollar dark web steroid racket.
Matthews, with his lackey Torryn Wilhelm, ran Alpha Beast’ out of a Hoppers Crossing property between April 2018 and January 2019.
The roid kingpins moved huge quantities of various other steroids and Xanax and Valium, which the court heard was used by bodybuilders to relieve training soreness.
Posts on bodybuilder forum BSF, which were read to the court, claimed BSF had been “one of the most successful online steroid vendors on the darknet over the last twelve months making approximately 4500 sales”.
Federal authorities and Victoria Police launched a sting operation on Alpha Beast after $169,315 worth of steroids was intercepted via Australia Post.
Investigators raided the Fowler St property and seized 83kg of steroids and more than 7000 Valium and Xanax tablets in January 2019.
The prosecution estimated the drugs seized had a commercial value of more than $1 million.
Wilhelm, from Wodonga, who received a reference from his Wilson Transformer Company boss, was jailed for a maximum of three years with a minimum of 18 months.
Matthews, from Mallacoota, who also pleaded guilty to nine other trafficking charges, was jailed for a maximum of five years.
Steven ‘Stavros’ Pentaris
Melbourne fitness coach Steven “Stavros” Pentaris, 30, was sentenced to an 18-month community correction order in August after pleading guilty to peddling cocaine after his business closed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pentaris was nabbed after Prahran Divisional Response Unit members raided his apartment on September 25 last year.
Police seized 175g of cocaine — some divvied up in deal bags — hidden in a locked safe and other parts of the property.
Pentaris, who pleaded guilty to possessing ecstasy, also refused to give police access to his iPhone.
Pentaris was convicted and also ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid community work.
Beau Ibbott
Beau Anthony Ibbott, 31, was sentenced to a minimum four years’ jail in July after pleading guilty to charges including aggravated burglary and criminal damage by fire.
Hopped up on whisky and Xanax, Ibbott was almost unstoppable when he carried out the attack at a Grant Rd property late on July 2, 2020.
Ibbott announced his arrival by revving his engine in the driveway, then aggressively yelled threats to the house’s three occupants as they scrambled to lock the doors.
Ibbott torched a ute after taking a chainsaw to it.
He then forced his way through the doors onto the porch while armed with a homemade mini axe, made of a metal tube with a crude blade welded onto the end.
Ibbott smashed the front door with the axe, then broke the bathroom windows with his fists.
A male occupant fired a warning shot, hitting his own TV, to which Ibbott replied, “You won’t f*cking shoot me,” and kept trying to break in.
The three occupants fled out the back of the house to a neighbouring property and Ibbott — not fazed by the bullet in his torso — proceeded to do burnouts in their driveway.
Ibbott then punched the windscreen of his own vehicle before he took a chainsaw and cut the bonnets, windows and panels of the victims’ ute and sedan.
Ibbott then took a butane torch to the ute and it completely burnt out.
He then smashed the windscreen of one of the victims’ work trucks and walked around in search of his victims.
Ibbott, who had spent 367 days on remand, was jailed for a maximum five years and seven months.
Madeleine Campbell
Hampton personal trainer turned heroin addict Madeleine Campbell, 32, pleaded guilty to a stack of dishonesty and theft related charges in January.
Campbell stole credit cards, gifts, handbags, IDs, taxi fares and other items from suburbs including Hampton, Brighton East, Chadstone and St Albans.
Police found car keys, loyalty cards and designer sunglasses inside Campbell’s house in January last year, and when they returned for another search in May, Campbell threw a number of driver’s licences and Medicare cards out her window.
Police later uncovered Culture Kings hats in her bedroom, Magistrate Stephen Lee heard.
Campbell was on bail when she and a co-accused stole a woman’s handbag in St Albans in November last year, and also ran from a taxi after the driver dropped her to her bail check-in at Moorabbin police station.
The court heard the former health and fitness fanatic slipped into a heroin and benzodiazepines addiction in 2016 following the death of her father and a turbulent relationship with her father-in-law.
Campbell, who has spent 65 days in pre-sentence detention, pleaded guilty to 30 charges including theft, deal with proceeds of crime and possess cannabis.
Anthony Younan
Anthony Younan, 33, was sentenced to a 15-month Community Corrections Order with 75 hours’ community work in June, having pleaded guilty to walking into a woman’s Craigieburn home and grabbing her around the neck before attacking her husband and son.
The court heard Younan, the nephew of slain underworld boss Nabil Maghnie and a trained boxer, acting as a debt collector when he attacked three family members at their home just before 2pm on June 6, 2020.
Younan, who did not know his victims, arrived at their property in an Uber and pushed past the 59-year-old husband, who was washing his car in the driveway.
Younan strolled into the garage and sat at a table, where the 55-year-old woman joined him.
The victims couldn’t understand Younan, who was drunk and on drugs, and phoned their son to come and help.
The woman then got up and walked into the house before Younan followed her.
He then grabbed her around the neck and slammed her into a wall.
Her husband tried to intervene and Younan also grabbed him around the throat.
The victims were pushing Younan out of their house when the couple’s son pulled up at the property and got into a fight with Younan.
The husband joined in the brawl and the three scuffled for several minutes before Younan walked away from the scene.
When Younan was later arrested he told police he had gone to the address to sort out a debt with the family but denied the assaults.
Investigations into Younan’s phone calls revealed the victims allegedly owed $18,500 to someone and he was acting as “the middleman”.
Christian Sales
Gym junkie Christian Sales, 42, pleaded guilty in August to making threats to kill and armed robbery following a deranged attack outside his mum’s Central Victorian home in October 2020.
The Maryborough man, who lives with his mother, had a longstanding agreement with Mason Taylor to buy his protein bars.
The court heard the two men had an arrangement that meant Sales got the first pick of the bars before Mr Taylor sold the rest on Facebook Marketplace.
The young entrepreneur visited the Maryborough apartment on Monday October 12 to check if Sales wanted more protein bars.
But he was confronted by the gym junkie with an “aggressive demeanour” speaking in “gibberish” during a 10-minute rant.
Mr Taylor said Sales accused him of overcharging by $10.
The victim tried to get in his car but was blocked by Sales, who had a hunting knife and taser visibly hanging from his belt.
Mr Taylor offered Sales some protein bars for free so he could leave, but the Maryborough man demanded all the boxes from his car.
Sales activated the taser and while throwing fake punches at his victim, his forearm slammed into Mr Taylor’s head.
Ben Sosoli
UFC fighter Ben Sosoli, 30, was sentenced to a minimum 11 months’ jail in October 2020 after pleading guilty to recklessly causing serious injury.
Sosoli was working as a “responsible service of alcohol” officer at Jackson’s Lounge Bar early on September 8 last year.
Sosoli, an employee of Lionheart Security, was manning the front entrance of the Jackson St bar when his victim Deang Aguek was asked to leave the line.
Mr Aguek was told he would not get in but he rushed through the door and into the packed venue which was hosting an “African-themed” night at the time.
Sosoli and security guard Tony Mokbel ran after the “highly intoxicated” man who was “off his nut”.
Sosoli grabbed Mr Aguek and dragged him backwards “20 or 30m”, the court heard.
The pair scuffled and Sosoli — a professional fighter well-trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — hit Mr Aguek square in the jaw.
Sosoli and Mr Mokbel stepped over the victim who fell on the ground, sat him up and gave him water.
Mr Aguek was transferred to Geelong Hospital the next day.
He required oral and facial surgery to repair several “severe” injuries including a fractured jaw.
Sosoli was jailed for a maximum 22 months.
Peter Valsamakis
Serial sex pest bodybuilder Peter Valsamakis, 44, was jailed in July 2020 after pleading guilty to rape by compelling sexual penetration.
Valsamakis, a sex worker with a history of drug abuse and sexual offending, posed as a woman on sex hook up app Skout to lure his 21-year-old victim.
The court heard the pair texted and “sexted” after Valsamakis first contacted the victim on December 21 last year.
Valsamakis sent the victim “naked and nude” images of an unknown woman with brown hair.
In return, the victim sent naked photos of himself to Valsamakis.
The victim rang Valsamakis’s phone and spoke with a person with a “female sounding voice”.
Valsamakis invited the victim to his Newport home on December 25.
He told the victim to go to the backdoor, cover his head with T-shirt, take his pants off and get on “all fours” with his back to the door.
Valsamakis then committed lewd acts on his victim.
The victim thought “something wasn’t right” so he took off his blindfold and discovered Valsamakis between his legs.
The man punched Valsamakis twice but the bodybuilder retaliated by threatening to attack the victim with a flower pot.
Valsamakis, still armed with the flower pot, then chased his victim down the street.
The victim called police while being chased by Valsamakis.
Valsamakis was jailed for five years and two months.
jack.patterson@news.com.au
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