MLB and Steriod News

Who would have thought? LOL ... professional atheletes and juice go hand in hand...

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The government's already broad investigation into athlete steroid use appears to have widened even more, with the names of 100 baseball players who tested positive for illegal drugs now in the hands of federal investigators.

The information, which an appeals court granted to authorities Wednesday, could help the government pinpoint the source of steroids in baseball and also bolster the perjury case against Barry Bonds, who is under investigation for telling a grand jury he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave investigators access to data from confidential drug tests by Major League Baseball in 2003.

It's unclear if Bonds' results are among those confiscated during the 2004 raids on two labs that conducted the tests.

Even so, the players who are found to have tested positive for steroids could be called to testify about how they obtained the drugs. If enough testify that they got them from Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, it could undermine the slugger's claim that he didn't know Anderson was supplying him with illegal substances.

Anderson is currently in prison for refusing to testify in the perjury probe. He was previously convicted of steroids distribution.

Bonds' lawyer questioned why the government continues to pursue Bonds when he doesn't believe the Giants' outfielder was among those who tested positive in 2003.

"If Barry is one of the players that did not test positive in '03 for steroids, I would hope that it would cause the government to rethink their continuing harassment they've engaged in for years," attorney Michael Rains said Wednesday.

The samples were collected in 2003 at baseball's direction as part of a survey to gauge the prevalence of steroid use. Players and owners agreed in their labor contract that the results would be confidential, and each player was assigned a code number to be matched with his name.

Quest Diagnostics of Teterboro, N.J., one of the largest drug-testing firms in the nation, analyzed more than 1,400 urine samples from players that season. Comprehensive Drug Testing of Long Beach, Calif., coordinated the collection of specimens and compiled the data.

The testing was part of baseball's effort to determine whether a stricter drug-testing policy was needed. Because 5 percent or more of the tests for steroids came back positive, it automatically triggered the start of testing with penalties in 2004.

Bonds has always maintained he never tested positive for illegal drug use. However, federal investigators demanded to see the 2003 test results for Bonds, then-New York Yankees Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi, and seven other players.

When they raided the testing labs for those 10 results, investigators also seized computer files containing the test results of nearly 100 other players not named in the government's subpoena and warrants.

The players' union sued to keep the government from accessing the records, saying the seizures violated the players' constitutional rights.

The appellate panel ruled 2-1 Wednesday against that claim, overturning decisions by three lower courts in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The key opinion, which says federal prosecutors are entitled to the urine samples and names of those who tested positive, overturns a ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston. The San Francisco-based judge had quashed the subpoenas to seize the test results, saying they constituted harassment and were unreasonable.

"The district court rested its order on legally insufficient grounds, and abused its discretion in granting the motion to quash," Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain wrote for the appeals court in the 120-page decision.

In dissent, Judge Sidney R. Thomas voted to uphold Illston, writing that the government's action "suggests an abuse of grand jury process."

U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan of San Francisco said the office is reviewing the decision "to determine what the next investigative step may be."

The players' union can ask for a new hearing before the full 9th Circuit or appeal the panel's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The union's general counsel, Michael Weiner, declined to immediately comment, saying he wanted to first review the decision.

Separately, the court also ruled that "the government's seizures were reasonable under the Fourth Amendment" and sent the case back to the district court to review what evidence can be used and what must be returned.

The government's investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a now-defunct Burlingame supplements lab at the center of the steroid scandal, already has resulted in guilty pleas from BALCO president Victor Conte, Anderson, BALCO vice president James Valente, chemist Patrick Arnold and track coach Remi Korchemny.

The case is United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing Inc., 05-10067

Damn.. they really want to come down hard on these people

Prosecutors sent a clear message Thursday to Barry Bonds and everyone else linked to the federal steroids investigation: lie to us, and we'll come after you. Former world silver medalist cyclist Tammy Thomas, 36, was the latest sports figure and first athlete to be indicted for hindering the 3-year-old grand jury probe. She faces three counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

Thomas was ordered to appear in court Jan. 5. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

She did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney for Northern California, said Thursday's indictment, along with last month's obstruction of justice charges against track coach Trevor Graham, marks a new phase in the BALCO investigation.

"A third stage has begun as we bring charges against individuals who lied to investigators or committed perjury while testifying under oath to a federal grand jury," he said.

The first stage, Ryan said, netted guilty pleas from Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative founder Victor Conte, BALCO vice president James Valente and track coach Remi Korchemny. Also convicted was Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer, who served three months and is back in prison for refusing to testify against Bonds.

Authorities suspect Bonds, like Thomas, lied to the 2003 grand jury when he said he never knowingly used steroids. An investigation of the San Francisco Giants slugger for perjury and possible tax-evasion charges is ongoing.

"On one level, the agents on the BALCO case and the U.S. Attorney's office were unfairly attacked for targeting only certain high-profile people," said Travis Tygart, general counsel for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "Now, it appears obvious the only targets in the investigation were those who broke the law, and justice will be served on those who violated it regardless of their fame and notoriety."

The second stage involved the conviction of Patrick Arnold, the Illinois chemist who created the banned substances distributed by BALCO, Ryan said.

Thomas was banned for life in August 2002 after the performance-enhancing drug norbolethone, an obscure and previously undetectable steroid, was found in her urine.

"That was the first proof that there were these designer drugs out there," said Don Catlin, director of the UCLA Olympic doping lab. "It told me that there would be others coming."

Norbolethone originally was tested by Wyeth Laboratories in human trials during the 1960s as a potential treatment to help severely short people grow and for conditions causing weight loss. The company abandoned development of the steroid in the early 1970s, and it never was marketed.

It languished in obscurity until Arnold dusted off Wyeth's recipe and made new batches to boost athletic performance.

USADA didn't test for the steroid until Catlin determined Thomas had used it. This likely was the prelude to THG, the designer drug created by Arnold at the heart of the BALCO investigation.

Thomas' indictment adds cycling, a sport often associated with doping, to a probe that already has exposed steroid use in professional baseball, football and track and field.

The Yazoo City, Miss. native, was a silver medalist in individual sprint at the 2001 World Track Cycling Championships. Thomas always has maintained her innocence and said the results might have been triggered by contraceptives she was using.

The indictment accuses Thomas of lying when she told the grand jury in October 2003 that she never used performance-enhancing drugs. She also is said to have lied when she testified that she did not get illegal drugs from Arnold, who currently is serving a three-month sentence in a West Virginia federal prison.

Thomas was granted immunity from prosecution if she told the truth, according to the indictment.

She was subpoenaed to testify after agents raided the BALCO laboratory and allegedly found evidence linking her to steroid use.

Graham, a coach for track stars Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, was indicted last month for allegedly lying when he said he did not distribute steroids to his athletes or tell them where they could be obtained. He has pleaded not guilty.

Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee, declined to comment on the specifics of the Thomas indictment.

"We have continually stressed the need to bring more resources to bear in order to eliminate doping from every segment of sport," he said. "This is a national issue, and nothing less than an aggressive, sustained effort with significant leadership from the U.S. government will solve the problem."

They are making this the witch hunt of the 21st century.

Look at Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose in their prime. They were so big, fast and strong they were inhuman. i respect and admire these guys but come on am i the only one who thinks they were using waaaaay back in the late 70's early 80's?

Let MLB patrol itself , MLB does not go and investigate the goings on of congress... maybe we should?

bro... as long as juice has been around, some trainer, some coach, some athelete has used it... bottom line. It is human nature to want to be number one, be the best, make the most, look and feel the best, and get notorized the most..

He with the most attention/money/girls wins... the difference is. Now a days because supplements are not regulated by the FDA, and marketing ploys to bring today's youth into a HUGE arena of vitamins, supplements, and pro-hormones and a HUGE EXPENSE to the buyer, and finally against all said or written warnings... MORE IS NOT BETTER.

I think you take a good thing, take away the reason of moderation and put the misconcieved notion that more is better will put kids in harms way of anything... apply that logic to any product on the market today - apply it to a childhood demographic - and have some fatalaties/injuries based off of every extreme scenerio of misuse.. and you have a schedule 3 drug / a high profile case / an investigation in front of the senate committee, product siezures, and as much negative press coverage you can chew untill the public cries for a product banning....
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THE FOLLOWING IS FICTION
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i can see it now, .... CONTACT LENSES GET BANNED and become a contraban item because 17 cases and class action lawsuits have been filed in 17 states across the US. It seems that kids who play XBOX all night, plus have to ride the bus to school before going to 8th grade math class have been closely related to the most recent loss of eyeballs in that age demographic in the midwest and northeastern states. It seems that children after having stressed eyes and lack of proper sleep have accidentally poked out each others eyes while attempting to place contact lenses in thier eyes on a bumpy bus ride. The local authorities have no comment on if there was any connection between the local Dept. Of Trans. and the engineering group responsible for placing and building 3700 speed bumps all located with 1 mile of each eye loss. Judge Judy however has stated that all the local, state and federal departments associated with the US government are in no way associated with any crime or misuse/misappropriation of funds required for DOT speedbump funds for better highways. Therefor the gov is not held liable.
The local congress has placed a temporary cone on each speedbump to ease public opinions. The manufacturer of the contacts were arrested yesterday and had nothing to say as they were pressured to testify and release the name of the company that sold them the plastic to manufacturer the dangerous contact lense, who is being further investigated and has had all current assets siezed.
Micro$oft the maxers of XBOX have alluded any comments of the press by donating the X's of the future xbox console to a small country in the south pacific renaming the island country to XX and the future console for sale in 2008... now named "BO." B. Gates goes on the record saying "who says money can't buy you happiness and freedom?"

Any person from here on out who is seen to be wearing, carrying, talking, or even THINKING of the word CONTACT will be thrown in jail, you will not pass go, and you will not collect $200.

This is Peter Parker reporting live from the stage of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in downtown Austria on Playboy television.. next up.. Teletubbies and Justin Timberlake have a baby?
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Wow.. you get the picture.. but the insanity just kinda drooped out... lol

bigbaldbulldog said:

They are making this the witch hunt of the 21st century.

Look at Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose in their prime. They were so big, fast and strong they were inhuman. i respect and admire these guys but come on am i the only one who thinks they were using waaaaay back in the late 70's early 80's?

Let MLB patrol itself , MLB does not go and investigate the goings on of congress... maybe we should?

Click to expand...

Wow, that was quite the story, and I strongly agree with bigbaldbulldog. Of course they were using back then--many people were.

its been in sports for well over 30 years. the prob is the f##king media!!! the media blows every thing out of proportion and then the public freks out!!! we all know that drugs on the streets and in our schools is a prob, but scence they do not hit home runs or rush for td's the goverment does nothing!!

where there is hundreds of millions of dollars there will be people looking for easier and faster means to getting it... always was always will