BARRY Bonds used steroids and then lied about it to a federal grand jury, prosecutors said as they charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice.
The indictment, filed in US District Court in San Francisco, stems from the investigation into the BALCO lab case in which leading figures served jail sentences for distributing steroids to professional athletes.
Bonds, who recently claimed the a
ll-time Major League Baseball home-run record, has long been the focus of a federal probe over suspicion he lied to the BALCO grand jury in 2003 when he told them he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds will plead not guilty, his lawyer said.
The San Francisco Giants player broke Hank Aaron's record for home runs this summer, finishing the year with 762 in total - seven ahead of Aaron's tally.
Bonds, 43, has long denied any link to performance-enhancing drugs.
Despite his huge success on the field, Bonds' abrasive personality and the doubts about steroid use kept him from gaining widespread popularity, especially beyond fans in San Francisco where he played most of his career.
"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.
If convicted on a perjury charge, Bonds could face up to five years in prison. Obstruction of justice could bring up to ten years imprisonment.
The indictment comes just weeks after sprinter Marion Jones relinquished the five medals she won at the 2000 Olympic Games after admitting she used performance- enhancing drugs.
San Francisco Giants have opted not to offer Bonds a contract for next season, and the player hopes to sign for another team. Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer and boyhood friend, was imprisoned in the BALCO case on steroid-distribution charges and then returned to prison for not co-operating in the Bonds probe. Anderson's lawyer said he did not co-operate; a judge ordered him to be freed yesterday.
Federal prosecutors had struggled to make a case against Bonds with his trainer silent on the issue.
Meanwhile, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has vowed to rid the sport of illegal drugs and defended its drug-testing program for being as effective as any in professional sports.
Selig is waiting on the results of an investigation by former US Senate majority leader George Mitchell into the use of drugs in baseball, which is expected to be released before the end of the year.
"It is important that the facts regarding steroid use in baseball be known, which is why I asked Senator Mitchell to investigate the issue," said Selig in a statement.
"We currently have a testing program that is as good as any in professional sports, and the program is working," he said. "We continue to fund research to find an efficacious test for HGH (human-growth hormone) and have banned amphetamines from our sport."
Rodriguez agrees £134million contract
ALEX Rodriguez and the New York Yankees have reportedly agreed on the framework of a ten-year, $275million (£134million) contract.
Baseball's highest-paid player admitted earlier in the week he had asked the Yankees for a meeting to discuss staying with the team. "Things with Alex Rodriguez are looking good," said Yankees' senior vice-president Hank Steinbrenner.
The third baseman, who had played with the Yankees for the last four seasons, left the club last month when he exercised an escape clause in his ten-year, $252million (£123million) contract.
The contract, which is still being finalised and will maintain his status as the game's highest-paid player, is expected to reward Rodriguez for reaching home-run milestones and if he surpasses the record held by Barry Bonds, which now stands at 762. Rodriguez currently has 518 home runs.
The full article contains 641 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
