Feds Get Bonds' Steroid-Laced Urine

[Steve9347]

F*ck that roider.

 

Bonds reportedly used other steroids

 

The heat is being turned up on Barry Bonds as his perjury trial approaches.

 

Citing a person who has reviewed the evidence in the case, the New York Times reported on Wednesday that authorities detected anabolic steroids in urine samples linked to Bonds that they gathered in their investigation.

 

Bonds testified to a federal grand jury in 2003 that he used the "cream" and the "clear" but did not know that they were performance-enhancing drugs. The urine samples could prove the existence of other steroids in his body.

 

During that testimony, Bonds was asked if he ever took steroids, and he answered no. The government alleges that Bonds lied under oath. His perjury trial is scheduled to begin March 2.

 

Meanwhile, federal authorities have taken another avenue in their pursuit of Bonds.

 

Agents raided the home of the mother-in-law of Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson.

 

Madeleine Gestas is the target of a tax investigation that Anderson's lawyer says is aimed at pressuring the trainer to testify at Bonds' upcoming trial on charges on lying to a grand jury.

 

Mark Geragos, a lawyer for Anderson, said he believes the raid Wednesday is in response to his refusal to tell prosecutors whether Anderson would testify.

 

The attorney said some 20 FBI and IRS agents showed up at the Redwood City, Calif., home of Madeline Gestas armed with a search warrant and seized miscellaneous documents. Gestgas, 60, has been the subject of a tax probe, but Geragos described the raid as part of an ongoing effort by the federal government to intimidate Anderson and coerce him to cooperate in the government's case against Bonds.

 

"They trashed the place and took all kinds of stuff," he said. "The execution was illegal and a grotesque example of bullying."

 

Arlette Lee, a spokesman for the IRS, acknowledged agents had been at Gestas' home but declined comment on the nature of the activity.

 

Last June, the government sent a letter to Nicole Gestas, a local fitness trainer who married Anderson in the summer of 2007, notifying her that she was the target of a federal conspiracy investigation.

 

"How much more obvious can they get?" said Paula Canny, an attorney who worked the BALCO case and a close friend of Anderson.

 

Geragos said he received a letter on Monday from federal prosecutors wanting to know if Anderson is going to testify in the Bonds trial.

 

"They can't demand that. It's sheer bullying," Geragos said.

 

Anderson served two terms in federal prison for refusing to appear in front of separate grand juries during the government's investigation of Bonds. Federal prosecutors believe Anderson can testify, among other things, that calendars and diary entries that document steroid use by a "BB" is in fact Bonds.

 

Anderson initially served 15 days in prison in July 2006, and then again from Aug. 28, 2006, until Nov. 15, 2007, in a federal correctional institute in Dublin, Calif. He also served three months in federal prison earlier in 2006 after he pleaded guilty in the BALCO steroid scandal.

 

Geragos has insisted for some time that Anderson will never testify against Bonds.

 

"My client is never going to speak," he told ESPN.com in March of 2007.

 

Geragos said Anderson received a government subpoena last week demanding his testimony at trial. If he refuses to testify, he could be sent to prison again.

 

Information from ESPN.com investigative reporters Mike Fish, T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada and The Associated Press was used in this report.

[Balta1701]

Raided his mother in law? LOL, that's probably as close as you can get to bullying.

 

Anywho...random question. I've heard a number of people say that Bonds deserves to go in to the HOF based on what he did before he started taking steroids. I've always responded that we can't really know when he started; he may have started some all the way back in the 80's for all we know, and just switched products when his body exploded. If there's steroids other than the ones we've heard about him taking so far (THG and possibly Winstrol) in his urine, then does that call in to question any of his pre-1998 numbers in anyone else's eyes?

[Steve9347]

You can't just throw a dart at the wall and say "that's when he started". If you let him in, you have to consider all those implicated as well, which would include Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

[Reddy]

well my view is if he gets convicted, not only is it perjury, but proof that he did illegal steroids. isn't that sufficient to ban someone from baseball?

[Buehrle>Wood]

Bonds is still the man regardless of what happens.

[Soxbadger]

This is completely ridiculous and completely irrelevant to the Prosecutions case.

 

The Prosecution must prove that Bonds "KNOWINGLY TOOK STEROIDS".

 

How does a sample of urine with Steroids prove that Bonds knew he was taking steroids?

 

Its the same answer as before:

 

I took the cream and clear, I didnt know what they were.

 

I took Pill B that my Dr gave to me, I didnt know what it was, he said it would help the pain, I believed him.

 

Also they have no "chain of evidence".

 

Who has had these substances for 6 years, how do we know that they were not tampered with, etc etc.

 

I wonder how much govt money has been wasted trying to discredit Barry Bonds because he isnt lovable enough.

[Wanne]

I wonder how much govt money has been wasted trying to discredit Barry Bonds because he isnt lovable enough.

 

That's what I was getting ready to say. Doesn't the gov't have better things to do?

[Reddy]

That's what I was getting ready to say. Doesn't the gov't have better things to do?

he lied under oath! you think he should be allowed to get away with it because he's a baseball player??? have you seen the crime problems in the nfl? sports figures think they are above the law and they SHOULDN'T be. so of COURSE he should be tried and of COURSE this should be going on.

[earthshiner]

Bonds is still the man regardless of what happens.

If he really was the man he wouldn't of had to cheat. As soon as on cheats they can no longer be the man; they are just a cheat.

[MHizzle85]

I love when the FBI feels it's important to things such as this. Go to f***in' trial already, take care of more important issues.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

I'm waiting until Jason Whitlock writes an article about how Barry Bonds is getting picked on only because he's black

[joejoesox]

If he really was the man he wouldn't of had to cheat. As soon as on cheats they can no longer be the man; they are just a cheat.

 

because everyone who cheats breaks the all-time homerun record

[Reddy]

because everyone who cheats breaks the all-time homerun record

... but he DID cheat to do it... who cares that other people couldn't do that. yes, he had assloads of talent, but he never would've reached that plateau without roids.

[joejoesox]

yes, he had assloads of talent

 

thank you

 

but he never would've reached that plateau without roids

 

that's your opinion, and you can't prove it, so why make the statement?

[Reddy]

thank you

 

 

 

that's your opinion, and you can't prove it, so why make the statement?

 

a) because we're allowed to make statements of opinion

 

and

 

b ) because without the roids he never would have been able to recover from all his injuries, never would have been able to be the best player in the game through his 40's (see frank thomas). he and frank were equivalent players in their prime - and both were big guys (by the end for bonds) so why has franks game diminished while Bonds' soared? cuz he could bounce back from injury faster and didn't have to deal with the effects of aging.

[Soxbadger]

he lied under oath! you think he should be allowed to get away with it because he's a baseball player??? have you seen the crime problems in the nfl? sports figures think they are above the law and they SHOULDN'T be. so of COURSE he should be tried and of COURSE this should be going on.

 

Perjury happens every day, in every case, in almost every single testimony that takes place.

 

The problem is perjury is so difficult to prove that most of the time the prosecutors just use the inconsistent statements to impeach the witness.

 

An even bigger problem is that generally the witness has the right to plead the 5th (ie not to testify or self-incriminate). One of the few times a witness does not have that right is when they are testifying at a grand jury.

 

The only reason you can not use the 5th amendment in a grand jury proceeding is that the entire proceeding is to be secret and none of the contents of the testimony can be revealed.

 

Now onto Bonds specific case:

 

When Bonds was compelled to testify at the Grand Jury proceeding against Balco, he was given absolute immunity except for perjury. Bonds attorney told the govt that Bonds could not testify even if given immunity because the testimony would not be kept secret and whatever Bonds said would be revealed.

 

The govt promised Bonds attorney that the information would be kept sealed and never revealed to the public. Bonds attorney did not believe them.

 

As it turns out, Bonds attorney was correct. The transcripts from the Grand Jury were illegally copied and reproduced.

 

So why should Bonds have to follow the rules of a Grand Jury proceeding when the govt could not follow the rules of keeping the information secret?

 

Bonds should have been allowed to plead the 5th as the govt could not guarantee the secrecy of the testimony, and we would not be having this issue today. Bonds would have plead the 5th and hed still be playing baseball. But the govt wanted BALCO and if they want something they will push you no matter who you are. So they forced Bonds to testify, refused to allow him to plead the 5th and now still want to prosecute him even after they convicted the founders of Balco.

 

This is not a case of an athlete being above the law, this is a case where the only reason the law is interested is because hes a high profile athlete.

 

If you replaced Barry Bonds with Soxbadger in this case, there would be no perjury proceeding, there would be nothing.

 

The govt just wouldnt spend the resources. But since its high profile Barry Bonds, they are willing to waste all of our time.

[joejoesox]

a) because we're allowed to make statements of opinion

 

and

 

b ) because without the roids he never would have been able to recover from all his injuries, never would have been able to be the best player in the game through his 40's (see frank thomas). he and frank were equivalent players in their prime - and both were big guys (by the end for bonds) so why has franks game diminished while Bonds' soared? cuz he could bounce back from injury faster and didn't have to deal with the effects of aging.

 

of course we're allowed to make statements of opinion, but when you word your statement "he never would have", that's not an opinionated statement, it's made as fact. you need to word it more like "I don't think he ever would have", in order for it to be understood as an opinion

 

IMO Bonds has always had a better batters eye than Frank, as well as a quicker bat

 

I love frank, but he's never been on Bonds level

 

And Bonds, as far as I know, was never an oft-injured player in his 30's like Frank was, though I would have to research this to form a more concrete opinion on it. I know Bonds has had knee problems but he played the outfield, and players into their 30's generally start to wear down in the legs

 

Frank was injured quite often, and he was a DH

[whitesoxfan101]

This is completely ridiculous and completely irrelevant to the Prosecutions case.

 

The Prosecution must prove that Bonds "KNOWINGLY TOOK STEROIDS".

 

How does a sample of urine with Steroids prove that Bonds knew he was taking steroids?

 

Its the same answer as before:

 

I took the cream and clear, I didnt know what they were.

 

I took Pill B that my Dr gave to me, I didnt know what it was, he said it would help the pain, I believed him.

 

Also they have no "chain of evidence".

 

Who has had these substances for 6 years, how do we know that they were not tampered with, etc etc.

 

I wonder how much govt money has been wasted trying to discredit Barry Bonds because he isnt lovable enough.

 

In terms of a criminal case in court, I have to agree with this honestly. One thing that I believe has been shown is that Barry Bonds used steriods, and probably used them willingly, which to me severly damages his baseball legacy, even though I believe he didn't start using the stuff until about the year 2000 and would have been a hall of famer without it.

 

But as hard as it is to prove what I say about when he started using the stuff (which is why I think he won't get in the hall of fame), it's even harder to prove that he KNOWINGLY used steriods. It's obvious he used them in general, and it's highly unlikely he didn't know what he was doing, but I don't think there is nearly enough evidence there to prove he perjured himself. That is just so hard to prove in a court of law.

Edited January 29, 2009 by whitesoxfan101

[NorthSideSox72]

Hopefully he gets successfully prosecuted for perjury, which will probably be enough to keep his cowardly ass out of the Hall of Fame. That will be a happy day.

 

[whitesoxfan101]

Hopefully he gets successfully prosecuted for perjury, which will probably be enough to keep his cowardly ass out of the Hall of Fame. That will be a happy day.

 

He won't get in regardless. There is a lot more evidence against Bonds than there is Sosa or McGwire (for the record, I think they both used too, but there still isn't nearly as much evidence), and neither of them are going to get in. Now obviously Bonds had a significantly better career than those two, but they'd probably both have been first ballot hall of famers without the whispers.

Edited January 29, 2009 by whitesoxfan101

[Balta1701]

He won't get in regardless. There is a lot more evidence against Bonds than there is Sosa or McGwire, and neither of them are going to get in. Now obviously Bonds had a significantly better career than those two, but they'd probably both have been first ballot hall of famers without the whispers.

I dont know about that. I mean, there was a bottle of Andro found in Mac's locker. That's about as blatant as you get.

[whitesoxfan101]

I dont know about that. I mean, there was a bottle of Andro found in Mac's locker. That's about as blatant as you get.

 

Except Andro was legal when that happened. Anabolic steroids in your urine is a much bigger problem to get around with the HOF voters.

[joejoesox]

I still say Bonds gets in, and widespread pandemonium ensues

[whitesoxfan101]

I still say Bonds gets in, and widespread pandemonium ensues

 

I would bet my posting privledges here that he never gets in the hall of fame, and this coming from a guy that would probably vote for him if he had the privledge.

[Milkman delivers]

thank you

 

 

 

that's your opinion, and you can't prove it, so why make the statement?

 

And cheating, no matter if it helped him to reach the goal or not, is cheating. So, why make your statement? He cheated any way you cut it.