Police Captain to Face Panel Over Steroids Charges : Investigations: The L.A. officer is the fourth to be ordered before a disciplinary board for allegedly obtaining the drugs from a doctor under federal indictment.

A Los Angeles Police Department captain assigned to the Van Nuys Division has been charged with misconduct for allegedly receiving anabolic steroids and obtaining them from a physician who is under federal indictment for illegally distributing the muscle-building drug.

Capt. John P. Mutz, a 16-year veteran, is the fourth and highest-ranking Los Angeles officer to be ordered before a board of rights, or disciplinary panel, because of allegations that he was a client of Dr. Walter F. Jekot, a department spokesman said Wednesday.

Known in the department as an avid bodybuilder, Mutz, 42, faces two counts of misconduct alleging that he improperly received steroids from Jekot and helped him commit a felony by doing so.

It is illegal to enhance muscle building with anabolic steroids. The use of steroids is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only for treating limited medical conditions. Last year, anabolic steroids were declared a controlled substance by the federal government.

Mutz was on vacation Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Barry Levin, said he is confident that Mutz will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Levin and other sources said Mutz’s case is unusual because commanding officers are rarely charged with misconduct by the department, and when they are, they tend to accept their discipline quietly rather than face a board of rights hearing, which can be open to the public.

Boards of rights are typically impaneled if misconduct charges could result in punishment more severe than a 22-day suspension, or if an officer chooses to challenge a lesser form of discipline.

Levin said he believed the department’s Internal Affairs Division referred Mutz’s case to a board of rights not because guilt or severe punishment is expected but to instill public confidence in the disciplinary process.

“I don’t think the department is necessarily taking the position that he’s guilty of anything,” Levin said.

“But you do have a situation where an individual has been indicted by the federal government for various species of wrongdoing, and there’s an allegation a commanding officer was involved with this person. And I think, for the purposes of public confidence, the department wants the charges aired at a public forum.”

Jekot, who has offices in Los Angeles and Santa Ana, is scheduled for trial April 7 in U.S. District Court. He has pleaded not guilty to a 27-count indictment alleging that he illegally dispensed anabolic steroids to dozens of bodybuilding clients, including actors, athletes and law enforcement officers.

Jekot’s attorney, Victor Sherman, said the doctor’s defense will be that he prescribed steroids for “justifiable medical reasons.”

The other officers facing board of rights hearings for allegedly accepting steroids from Jekot are Edward E. Houston, 35, a Central Division detective, and Sergio H. Ruedas, 40, a Northeast Division patrol officer.

Officer Ted J. Watson, 32, who was also accused of improperly receiving steroids from Jekot, was recently cleared by a board of rights.