A prominent LSU athletics booster indicted in a nationwide steroid distribution ring has loose ties to the LSU baseball program, though those associated with the team deny knowing the donor.Jodi C. Silvio, a 49-year-old pharmacist of Fairhope, Ala., served on the Tiger Athletic Foundation’s Board of Directors until the University learned of his indictment in early March.He faces 62 counts of drug conspiracy, drug distribution, money laundering conspiracy and money laundering connected with his alleged involvement in the Applied Pharmacy Services compounding pharmacy in Mobile, Ala.The Mitchell Report, a 2007 detailed account of steroid use in Major League Baseball, claims APS supplied five MLB players with human growth hormone and other performance-boosting substances.Miriam Segar, associate athletics director for compliance, e-mailed more than 60 LSU coaches, trainers and Athletic Department officials March 6 to reveal the indictment.”Unfortunately, one of the persons arrested is on the TAF board,” Segar wrote. “Let us know if there is anyone named in the investigation that has been involved with your program.”Within hours of Segar’s e-mail, Silvio’s name was removed from the list of Board of Directors on TAF’s Web site. Gen. Ron Richard, CEO of TAF, has repeatedly declined comment on Silvio’s involvement with the booster club.LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri responded to Segar’s e-mail by acknowledging Silvio’s involvement with his baseball coaches committee as a $200 member.”I got that e-mail from Miriam, so I checked our [coaches committee] roster,” Mainieri said. “Anyone who has given their support to LSU and is accused of doing something unlawful … it shocks you. But I don’t know anything about it.”Mainieri said more than 365 members belong to his coaches committee, which has about seven meetings each year.”I stand up there with a microphone, but I probably couldn’t name 20 of the people,” Mainieri said. “I don’t ever remember meeting him. I don’t even recognize him. I know … well, I can’t say for sure that he’s never had any interaction [with our athletes], but I’ve never seen him around our team.”Assistant baseball coach Will Davis, a former Tiger player who oversees the coaches committee, said Silvio has been a member since Mainieri arrived at LSU in 2006.”I don’t think he even came to the meetings. I think he just sent in his membership every year from Alabama,” Davis said. “I would always get it and be like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of weird.’ Everytime we get them in from that far away, it’s kind of odd. But I didn’t question it.”Davis said coaches committee members have the chance to interact with student-athletes on a limited basis.”He had the opportunity to, but he didn’t,” Davis said.LSU equipment manager Greg Stringfellow sent an e-mail on March 6 to Verge Ausberry, senior associate athletic director, about Silvio’s connections to LSU athletics. Stringfellow said he saw Silvio “at baseball a couple of times” and at the 2009 Senior Bowl in Mobile.Stringfellow also wrote that Silvio donated enough money to have his name displayed on a taping table trainers use to care for LSU athletes.”When donors donate things around the building, they get their name put on different things,” Stringfellow said. “I’m sure his name is all over things in the Athletic Department. I happened to see his name on a taping table.”Ausberry said he is unaware if Silvio’s name remains on the taping table.”There’s a difference between being indicted and convicted,” Ausberry said. “Just because a guy is charged with something, I don’t think we’d take his name down.”Ausberry also said he will reserve judgment until the case works its way through the legal system.”If he’s cleared of all charges, there might be a chance for him to be put back on the [TAF] board,” he said.Silvio faces charges that he “personally filled numerous prescriptions and orders for anabolic steroids, including veterinary drugs not approved for human use,” according to a 33-page indictment unsealed Jan. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Silvio allegedly owned 15-25 percent of APS while acting as a treasurer and fill-in pharmacist. His trial has been postponed to January 2010.Silvio and 11 other defendants are charged with distributing the drugs, including testosterone and human growth hormone, to doctors and dealers in states such as Florida, California, Texas and Louisiana. Some of the drugs were allegedly dispensed to users under the age of 21.Bradley Murray, Silvio’s lawyer, said his client anticipated the charges months before they were filed.”The government has been building this case for years … we have known it was coming,” Murray said. “We have known for a long time that the government intended to name him in the indictment. We didn’t run from anything.”Murray said the indictment is an “injustice,” and he “fully expects” Silvio to be acquitted. “His days in the Applied Pharmacy were few and far between. He was not there day-to-day,” Murray said. “All of these allegations about conspiracies and developing schemes … he wasn’t around enough to know anything that would approach that.”Murray also said he hasn’t heard any “hint or suggestion” that prosecutors may be looking at Silvio’s connection to the University.”I’m not aware of any evidence that links to LSU,” Murray said.A spokesman for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama said he was unable to answer any questions about evidentiary matters, which would include any potential investigation into Silvio’s LSU ties.Murray did acknowledge his client is a loyal supporter of the University.”I know his heart bleeds purple and gold,” he said. “It’s apparent to everyone that he is a strong LSU supporter.”Silvio donated more than $100,000 to the University during his lifetime, according to the 2004-2005 LSU Foundation annual report that identified him as a “benefactor” level contributor. A representative from the University Registrar’s office was unable to find any records that Silvio attended the University, and an inquiry at the LSU Alumni Association showed Silvio listed as a “friend of the University” but not an alumnus.Murray said he is unaware if his client attended the University.—-Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]