Local News

Pizzeria owner arrested on drug charges

Jay Meisel | Highlands Today
Published: December 31, 2012

LAKE PLACID - A Lake Placid business owner who overcame losing a leg and an arm in an accident several years ago has been arrested on charges involving drugs and having a stolen weapon.

Eric Salvatore Kelecseny, 37, 147 Deana Drive, Lake Placid, was arrested Dec. 21 and charged with four counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, mainly involving steroids and testosterone; possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia and dealing in stolen property.

Florida Department of Law enforcement agents arrested Kelecseny more than two months after executing a search warrant at his residence. The investigation is continuing, authorities said.

Kelecseny, who previously owned a boat marina in Lake Placid, opened Make'n the Dough, a pizzeria specializing in New York-style pies, in June 2009. He had lost his arm and leg in a motorcycle accident three years earlier and said in an interview in 2009 that he hoped children would be inspired by seeing him work, despite being handicapped.

He said this week that he used the steroids because they helped him with his disability and gave him energy. He's trying to get the steroids prescribed, he said.

When FDLE and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents searched his residence, they found a stolen Walther .22-caliber handgun with a suppression device and other unregistered firearms, the complaint affidavit said.

They also found in a master bedroom closet suspected illegal anabolic steroids and a duffle bag containing several packages marked "Toy Fluid," 81 tablets of Mesterolone, a drug used to treat depression, numerous unlabeled glass vials containing unknown liquids and solids and used and unused packages of hypodermic needles and syringes, the affidavit said.

The "Toy Fluid," was later identified as Testosterone Cypionate, the affidavit said.

In the master bedroom vanity, investigators found Methenolone Enanthate, a steroid, Parabolan, a steroid, and more "Toy Fluid," the affidavit said.

Investigators also discovered 5.3 grams of marijuana and that a safe contained numerous handguns, including one reported stolen between Sept. 28 and Oct. 1, 2012, from a vehicle in Lake Placid, the affidavit said.

Kelecseny told investigators he bought the controlled substances "via an Internet black market website," the affidavit said. "He stated he knew the substances were illegal and does not have a prescription for any steroids or growth hormones," the affidavit said.

He also told investigators that the marijuana was left over from a house party that occurred "the other night," the affidavit said.

Although Kelecseny at first told investigators he was unfamiliar with the stolen handgun, he later contacted the ATF and said that he thought the gun they were talking about was the one he bought two or three weeks earlier from an unknown man for $225, the affidavit said. "He did not know the male's name, but stated he 'knows the crowd.'"

Kelecseny said this week he owns numerous guns and had no reason to believe any were stolen when he made the purchases.