Federal grand jury indicts Barry Bonds

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SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, culminating a four-year federal investigation into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury looking into steroid use by elite athletes.

The indictment came three months after the 43-year-old Bonds passed Hank Aaron to become baseball's career home run leader. Bonds parted ways with the San Francisco Giants after the season.


While Bonds was chasing Aaron, a grand jury was working behind closed doors to put the finishing touches on the long-rumored indictment

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Ii's About Time.
If He Is Found Guilty Of Steroid Use, I Hope They Strip Him Of All The Records He Has As They Do The Olympians And Cyclist Even Horse Racing And Other Sports. I Would Also Like To See Just How Far They Go And Many Other Athletes Are Investigated For Drug Use.

I HOPE THEY DIDN'T WAIT FOR HIM TO BREAK THE RECORD AND FOR THE SEASON TO BE OVER BEFORE THEY DECIDED TO SOMETHING AND ALL HE GETS IS A HAND SMACK.

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Its about dayum time :rules:

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John, Heres another report I just found. I also heard on CNN sports news that the indictment from today was for lying to the investigation and not for the use of performance enhancing steroids. But they went on to say that a report from the investigation was due in 4 - 6 months that will in fact show he used the steroids and charges will be filed against him for this.

Barry Bonds lied about steroid use: indictment filed against Bonds.




SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Baseball home-run king Barry Bonds used steroids to fuel his success and then lied about it, prosecutors said on Thursday in charging him with perjury and obstruction of justice.

The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, stems from the investigation into the San Francisco Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) whose top figures have already served jail time on steroid distribution charges.

The all-time Major League baseball home run king has long been under federal probe over suspicion that he lied to the BALCO grand jury in 2003 when he told them he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

The seven-time Most Valuable Player surged late in his career to break what had long been one of the greatest records in American sports. Although many fans wondered aloud about the source of his power, Bonds, 43, has long denied any link to steroids

Despite his huge success on the field, his abrasive personality and the lingering doubts about steroid use, kept him from gaining widespread personal popularity, especially outside San Francisco.

"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 professional athletes," the indictment said.

Bonds' main criminal lawyer did not immediately return a telephone call for comment, but a second lawyer said he would plead not guilty to the charges.
Major League Baseball had no immediate comment.

The indictment comes just weeks after Olympic sprinter Marion Jones relinquished the five medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Games and accepted a two-year ban after admitting she used performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds passed Hank Aaron to become the American home run king this summer, but his San Francisco Giants chose not to negotiate another year on his contract. He was hoping to sign a contract with another team in the coming months.

If convicted on a perjury charge, Bonds could face up to five years in prison.

His personal trainer and boyhood friend Greg Anderson was imprisoned in the case on steroid distribution charges. Anderson was later sent back to prison for declining to cooperate in the Bonds probe.

The indictment quotes Bonds speaking before the grand jury as saying he did not take steroids.


(Additional reporting by Jim Christie in San Francisco and Randall Mikkelsen in Washington; Editing by Jackie Frank)