Bonds indicted !!!!
 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds, baseball's home run king, was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice Thursday and could face prison instead of the Hall of Fame for telling a federal grand jury he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.

The indictment, culminating a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes, charged Bonds with four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Shortly after the indictment was handed up, Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was ordered released after spending most of the past year in prison for refusing to testify against his longtime friend.

"During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes," the indictment said.

In August, when the 43-year-old Bonds passed Hank Aaron to become baseball's career home run leader, he flatly rejected any suggestion that this milestone was stained by steroids.

"This record is not tainted at all. At all. Period," Bonds said.

Bonds finished the year with 762 homers, seven more than Aaron, and is currently a free agent. In 2001, he set the season record with 73 home runs.

Late in the season, the San Francisco Giants told the seven-time National League MVP they didn't want him back next year.

Bonds could not immediately be reached for comment. One of his attorneys, John Burris, didn't know of the indictment before being alerted by The Associated Press and said he would call Bonds to notify him.

"I'm surprised," Burris said, "but there's been an effort to get Barry for a long time. I'm curious what evidence they have now they didn't have before."
Bonds' defense attorney, Mike Rains, declined comment because he hadn't seen a copy of the indictment.

"However, it goes without saying that we look forward to rebutting these unsupported charges in court," Rains said. "We will no doubt have more specific comments in the very near future once we have had the opportunity to actually see this indictment that took so long to generate."

Bonds is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Dec. 7.
Bonds has never been identified by Major League Baseball as testing positive for steroids.

"I have yet to see the details of this indictment and while everyone in America is considered innocent until proven guilty, I take this indictment very seriously and will follow its progress closely," commissioner Bud Selig said.

Union head Donald Fehr said he was "saddened" to learn of Bonds' indictment.
"However, we must remember, as the U.S. Attorney stated in his press release today, that an indictment contains only allegations, and in this country every defendant, including Barry Bonds, is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until such time as he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

The White House weighed in, too.

"The president is very disappointed to hear this," Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said. "As this case is now in the criminal justice system, we will refrain from any further specific comments about it. But clearly this is a sad day for baseball."


http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns



Good!!! It's about flippin' time!!!!!

I have no sympathy for steroid use

Does this shock anyone?

Not me.

What took them so long?

Too bad this is after he broke the record. :rolleyes:

can you all imagine Tyson, Vick, OJ and Bonds in the same cell block.....?


with Rae Rae Carruth downsturs...

Perjury cases are extremely hard to prove. Sucks.

will people go after roger clemens now?

good question.. my guess would be probably but not with the vigor they are going after Bonds

Isn't Clemmens close to retirement? I know the Yanks paid a bundle for him.

bigger question is whether or not all of his records will have an asterisk around them.

ditto

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3158304

Roger Clemens' inclusion in the Mitchell report sent shock waves through Major League Baseball, and the pitcher's popularity in his home state of Texas appears to be taking a hit.

Buster says Roger Clemens will pay a heavy price for being named in the Mitchell report, including the possibility of not being voted into the Hall of Fame. Listen

The Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association said it has removed Clemens as the keynote speaker at its state convention next month, the Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site Monday.

The association's officers spent the weekend reviewing the matter before concluding that Clemens, a 354-game winner over a major league career that began in 1984, "was an inappropriate influencer to baseball coaches and students alike."

Clemens, who pitched for the University of Texas and came out of retirement after the 2003 season to pitch the next three seasons for the Houston Astros, was slated to be the convention's keynote speaker on Jan. 12, with the topic being "my vigorous workout, how I played so long [in professional baseball]," according to the Chronicle.



Was an inappropriate influencer to baseball coaches and students alike.
-- Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association, according to the Houston Chronicle

The right-hander, who pitched for the New York Yankees last season, was the biggest name linked by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Mitchell's report was released Thursday.

Clemens, long thought to be the greatest pitcher of his era, is a winner of seven Cy Young Awards, eighth all-time in victories and a former MVP who has been considered a lock for the Hall of Fame. Since Thursday, whether he is deserving of the Hall of Fame has generated passionate debate.

At 45, Clemens has not said whether he hopes to pitch next season. Through his attorney, Rusty Hardin, Clemens denied he used performance-enhancing drugs.

" ... I respectfully suggest it is very unfair to include Roger's name in this report," Hardin said last week in a statement. "He is left with no meaningful way to combat what he strongly contends are totally false allegations. He has not been charged with anything, he will not be charged with anything and yet he is being tried in the court of public opinion with no recourse. That is totally wrong."





LOL

whoa....

Bonds is a piece of trash........but that would be totally absurd, in my opinion, if they did that. Cheating has been a part of baseball since its inception. There are plenty of hall of fame baseball players who made their careers by cheating.

Why should his record have an asterisk? He was never caught by a league steroid test. He is a terrible person but a great player who never got caught cheating, unlike Sammy Sosa or George Brett. I know that Bonds used steroids and, more effectively, HGH, but the fact that he was never caught by a league test means that he can't be held responsible. Hall of famers have been indicted on much worse charges than Bonds, and the guy is the most prolific home run hitter of all time and a winner of multiple gold gloves.
What always cracks me up is the people that will defend Pete Rose for betting on a game and then trash Barry for doing something that was legal by MLB rules for a majority of his career.