Post by heemeehead on Jul 11, 2006 16:20:16 GMT -5
Major League Baseball sees indictment coming for Bonds
AFP
July 11, 2006
NEW YORK (AFP) - Several senior figures in Major League Baseball expect Barry Bonds will be indicted by a San Francisco grand jury investigating the record-setting slugger, a US newspaper reported.
The New York Daily News, citing several unnamed major league sources in a Tuesday internet posting, said indictments for perjury and tax evasion could be issued by next week or the end of July against the San Francisco Giants outfielder.
A grand jury looking into revelations stemming from the BALCO steroid scandal is scheduled to expire by the end of the month.
The Daily News said their sources had no inside information regarding the grand jury but anticipated that Bonds will be indicted, which would create a nightmare scenario for Major League Baseball during its usual late-season peak.
That expectation, the newspaper reported, came from information about Bonds uncovered in a secret investigation launched more than a year ago - well before former US Senator George Mitchell was named in April to lead an MLB-inquiry into doping allegations.
Bonds has denied knowingly taking any performance-enhancing substances even though his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was among four men convicted in the BALCO steroid distribution scandal.
Anderson was sent back to prison last week for refusing to testify before the grand jury investigating Bonds.
Prosecutors think substances Bonds accepted from Anderson were "the cream" and "the clear", once-undetectable steroid substances whose discovery has rocked athletics and cast a shadow on Bonds's historic baseball achievements.
Bonds, who turns 42 on July 24, has 720 career home runs, 35 shy of matching the all-time US major league record set by Hank Aaron.
Bonds has hit 12 homers this season and on May 28 passed Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time list with homer 715. He is batting .249 with 74 walks and has batted in 39 runs this season for the Giants, 45-44.
A majority of the grand jury must find probable cause of a crime to indict. The jury could decide not to indict or seek an extension of time to look into the matter.
Perjury charges could stem from the fact Bonds told a BALCO grand jury in December of 2003 that he did not knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs, according to testimony published by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tax charges could relate to claims made by ex-girlfriend Kimberly Bell, who reportedly told the grand jury Bonds gave her 80,000 dollars in possibly undeclared cash and admitted using anabolic steroids before his BALCO links.
AFP
July 11, 2006
NEW YORK (AFP) - Several senior figures in Major League Baseball expect Barry Bonds will be indicted by a San Francisco grand jury investigating the record-setting slugger, a US newspaper reported.
The New York Daily News, citing several unnamed major league sources in a Tuesday internet posting, said indictments for perjury and tax evasion could be issued by next week or the end of July against the San Francisco Giants outfielder.
A grand jury looking into revelations stemming from the BALCO steroid scandal is scheduled to expire by the end of the month.
The Daily News said their sources had no inside information regarding the grand jury but anticipated that Bonds will be indicted, which would create a nightmare scenario for Major League Baseball during its usual late-season peak.
That expectation, the newspaper reported, came from information about Bonds uncovered in a secret investigation launched more than a year ago - well before former US Senator George Mitchell was named in April to lead an MLB-inquiry into doping allegations.
Bonds has denied knowingly taking any performance-enhancing substances even though his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was among four men convicted in the BALCO steroid distribution scandal.
Anderson was sent back to prison last week for refusing to testify before the grand jury investigating Bonds.
Prosecutors think substances Bonds accepted from Anderson were "the cream" and "the clear", once-undetectable steroid substances whose discovery has rocked athletics and cast a shadow on Bonds's historic baseball achievements.
Bonds, who turns 42 on July 24, has 720 career home runs, 35 shy of matching the all-time US major league record set by Hank Aaron.
Bonds has hit 12 homers this season and on May 28 passed Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time list with homer 715. He is batting .249 with 74 walks and has batted in 39 runs this season for the Giants, 45-44.
A majority of the grand jury must find probable cause of a crime to indict. The jury could decide not to indict or seek an extension of time to look into the matter.
Perjury charges could stem from the fact Bonds told a BALCO grand jury in December of 2003 that he did not knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs, according to testimony published by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tax charges could relate to claims made by ex-girlfriend Kimberly Bell, who reportedly told the grand jury Bonds gave her 80,000 dollars in possibly undeclared cash and admitted using anabolic steroids before his BALCO links.
