I called the which doctor

David Soares caught a glimpse of the limelight very early on in his tenure as Albany County’s top prosecutor. Just seven months after taking office, the relatively unknown district attorney found himself thrust the center of attention when a story broke about a trio of horny Christian Brothers Academy students and their steamy love tryst with an equally obscure writing lab instructor named Geisel.

Very quickly, the no-name long-shot candidate found himself staring dead into the eye of the national media. And since that time, he’s seemed to develop quite the palate for the attention. So much, in fact, that it’s hard to fathom that Soares’ ambitions lie solely within the boundaries of Albany County.

Less than a year after the CBA scandal broke, Soares, a former communications major from Cornell University, played the role of information broker in the trial of the silver spoon-sucking underachiever-turned-ax wielding sociopath. Then before the dust could settle, he was working out plea deals with the state’s top accountant.

Yes, very quickly has Soares climbed the socio-political ladder and kept his name in the national spotlight, while simultaneously rubbing elbows with many of the state’s top democrats. Now, he’s set his sights on the proliferation of steroids from a generally lawless state more than 2,000 miles away.

Basking in the warming rays of Florida last week –and with the Times Union’s ace reporter in tow –Soares plucked a network of quack doctors who have allegedly pushed their wares through cyberspace and into New York. While publically declining to identify the users of the juice, someone from the investigation managed to leak a whole host of sexy names to both give the story legs and propel it deep into the heart of national coverage; Major League Baseball players, National Football League players, U.S. Olympic athletes.

The resonate bong from the case suddenly had all the gusto of the red-eyed testimony of shammed slugger Jose Canseco on Capitol Hill or the leaked name of Yankee start Jason Giambi in a doppelganger investigation and subsequent trial in California. Soares suddenly had his name thrust into national news and sports headlines, courtesy of one round-trip ticket to Disneyworld purchased with drug money seized in Albany.

Of course, Soares’ investigation has its critics, many who argue the DA has enough on his plate to be making prosecutorial sojourns to the Sunshine state. But once back in Albany, he fired back at these notions, offering the theory that steroids are every bit as dangerous and omnipresent as other drugs moving through the Capital Region.

But there are a host of questions he hasn’t bothered answering or has provided vague, noncommittal responses at best. For instance, after budgeting more than $260,000 worth of county money to prosecute Christopher Porco in Orange County, how he intends to fund what is bound to be an astronomical case against two dozen defendants that largely committed crimes in Florida. Just ferrying witnesses to Albany could more than double the cost of the Porco case.

Better yet, why prey tell is Soares going after a case that clearly crosses many jurisdictions, when there’s a perfectly serviceable network of authorities who specialize in such investigations. True, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency “assisted” in the case. Still, Soares remains at the head of the investigation, which means one of three disturbing things, namely that the federal agencies lacked the resources to bust the ring, didn’t care about busting the ring, or that Soares has grown arrogant enough that he feels it appropriate to edge into busting crime nationwide.

Equally disturbing is that the Times Union had a reporter with boots on the ground in Florida, long before any other paper had as much as an inkling of Soares’ whereabouts. Coming to their own defense, the paper reported last week that it conducted its “own months-long investigation into steroid trafficking” and just coincidentally caught up with the showboating DA in Orlando. And when names Soares is brazenly withholding from the media percolate into the TU the same day, this response holds about as much water as a household colander.

Meanwhile, just a few short blocks from Soares’ office on Lodge Street, an urban battle wages on. Albany’s West Hill and Arbor Hill neighborhoods continue to be magnets for serious crime. There is a tangible uneasiness that flows down the dilapidated blocks once one crosses over Central Avenue on Henry Johnson Boulevard, and it’s not too hard to find bullet holes or blood stains. Rapidly joining this rag-tag group of neighborhoods is the student ghetto in nearby Pine Hills, which each day seem to look just a bit seedier than the last.

True, a lot of the onus of blame lies with Albany’s embittered police chief and longtime mayor, both of whom are quite publically at odds with Soares. But by scampering off to Florida when there are clear and present dangers visible in nearly every direction in Albany, the DA is making a very bold statement –and one that is less than endearing –of his role in protecting the county from crime.

Perhaps Soares should do a bit of background research on himself, such as when he griped in January about his office’s paltry $6 million worth of county funding to prosecute cases from 15 different agencies. Or back in 2004, when he pledged to reform the aged Rockefeller Drug Laws. Better yet, maybe he should simply announce the higher office he intends to seek in a few short years when his term is up.