BALCO Plea for Conte

[JC]

Link

 

Victor Conte has accepted a plea deal in which he will plead guilty to one count of distributing and one count of laundering. For the plea, he has agreed to fully cooperate with the government.

 

If Barry is in hot water over his testimony (e.g. perjury), I suspect this event may open the door for charges to be filed in the not too distant future.

[katway]

Link

For the plea, he has agreed to fully cooperate with the government.

 

He has not agreed to further cooperation. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/bal-balco715,1,6776528.story

 

"Conte said he would not be required to assist in the prosecution of anyone else involved in the investigation."

 

Thus, Barry is probably safe since he admitted to receiving packages and using them, but not to knowing what they contained. Prosecution would probably require Conte's help and testimony that he spoke to Barry and Barry understood they were steroids. If the Plea is approved, he will not be required to testify....

[JC]

Link

For the plea, he has agreed to fully cooperate with the government.

 

He has not agreed to further cooperation. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/bal-balco715,1,6776528.story

 

"Conte said he would not be required to assist in the prosecution of anyone else involved in the investigation."

 

Thus, Barry is probably safe since he admitted to receiving packages and using them, but not to knowing what they contained. Prosecution would probably require Conte's help and testimony that he spoke to Barry and Barry understood they were steroids. If the Plea is approved, he will not be required to testify....

 

I don't think Barry is safe. Your link surprised me because SportsCenter said he would cooperate. At the same time, Conte has lied so much during the course of this thing, I don't really listen to what he says in the press. Feds don't just give out sweetheart deals and help people serve their sentences on home detention.

[CubinNY]

The guy Barry should be worried about is his friend the trainer. If they put the skrews to him and he talks Barry is up on charges.

[wade]

Link

For the plea, he has agreed to fully cooperate with the government.

 

He has not agreed to further cooperation. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/bal-balco715,1,6776528.story

 

"Conte said he would not be required to assist in the prosecution of anyone else involved in the investigation."

 

Thus, Barry is probably safe since he admitted to receiving packages and using them, but not to knowing what they contained. Prosecution would probably require Conte's help and testimony that he spoke to Barry and Barry understood they were steroids. If the Plea is approved, he will not be required to testify....

 

I don't think Barry is safe. Your link surprised me because SportsCenter said he would cooperate. At the same time, Conte has lied so much during the course of this thing, I don't really listen to what he says in the press. Feds don't just give out sweetheart deals and help people serve their sentences on home detention.

 

Do you think he could he get Giambi and Sheffield in any trouble, or by just basically being users are they not really in any danger of penalty?

[biittner77]

Do you think he could he get Giambi and Sheffield in any trouble, or by just basically being users are they not really in any danger of penalty?

 

Steroids are illegal. Giambi it seems would be subject for whatever the penalty is for using a controlled substance. Sheffield has always said he didn't know. His story seems more believable than Bonds'.

[katway]

Link

For the plea, he has agreed to fully cooperate with the government.

 

He has not agreed to further cooperation. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/bal-balco715,1,6776528.story

 

"Conte said he would not be required to assist in the prosecution of anyone else involved in the investigation."

 

Thus, Barry is probably safe since he admitted to receiving packages and using them, but not to knowing what they contained. Prosecution would probably require Conte's help and testimony that he spoke to Barry and Barry understood they were steroids. If the Plea is approved, he will not be required to testify....

 

I don't think Barry is safe. Your link surprised me because SportsCenter said he would cooperate. At the same time, Conte has lied so much during the course of this thing, I don't really listen to what he says in the press. Feds don't just give out sweetheart deals and help people serve their sentences on home detention.

 

Conte's attorneys have spoken about the deal... See http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0507150245jul15,1,6326810.story The deal does not require Conte to cooperate with federal agents in their investigation, his attorneys said....

 

The reason I think Bonds is safe is that 1) the Feds were really after Balco for fraud. Steroids was an aside that popped up during the investigation. Even though they are illegal, Balco is not the first to ever distribute them and get a light sentence for it... and 2) Conte's testimony would be essential for going after Bonds, without it, the case is pretty much dead. If the Feds wanted to pursue the steroids are illegal angle with Bonds without Conte's cooperation, they would have indicted Bonds months ago.

[biittner77]

Link

For the plea, he has agreed to fully cooperate with the government.

 

He has not agreed to further cooperation. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/bal-balco715,1,6776528.story

 

"Conte said he would not be required to assist in the prosecution of anyone else involved in the investigation."

 

Thus, Barry is probably safe since he admitted to receiving packages and using them, but not to knowing what they contained. Prosecution would probably require Conte's help and testimony that he spoke to Barry and Barry understood they were steroids. If the Plea is approved, he will not be required to testify....

 

I don't think Barry is safe. Your link surprised me because SportsCenter said he would cooperate. At the same time, Conte has lied so much during the course of this thing, I don't really listen to what he says in the press. Feds don't just give out sweetheart deals and help people serve their sentences on home detention.

 

Conte's attorneys have spoken about the deal... See http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0507150245jul15,1,6326810.story The deal does not require Conte to cooperate with federal agents in their investigation, his attorneys said....

 

The reason I think Bonds is safe is that 1) the Feds were really after Balco for fraud. Steroids was an aside that popped up during the investigation. Even though they are illegal, Balco is not the first to ever distribute them and get a light sentence for it... and 2) Conte's testimony would be essential for going after Bonds, without it, the case is pretty much dead. If the Feds wanted to pursue the steroids are illegal angle with Bonds without Conte's cooperation, they would have indicted Bonds months ago.

 

With all the noise they've made about steroids I'd think the government would want to go after Bonds pretty hard. Unless all that cleaning up baseball stuff was pure political grandstanding.

 

It seems like they could get Bonds for perjury if they lean on the trainer. They make an example out of Bonds and they'll be able to say they did something.

[katway]

 

With all the noise they've made about steroids I'd think the government would want to go after Bonds pretty hard. Unless all that cleaning up baseball stuff was pure political grandstanding.

 

It seems like they could get Bonds for perjury if they lean on the trainer. They make an example out of Bonds and they'll be able to say they did something.

 

The others, including Anderson, are all pretty close to deals similar to Conte's.

 

Congress will continue to make noise until Baseball turns the screws a little tighter... but, no one in Congress is going to argue the case to a jury and neither are the prosecutors without a single witness. The doing something was making McGuire and Selig look bad before Congress and twisting their arms to get the owners and the players to address the steroid issue.

 

Prosecuting Bonds without a solid case (no positive test, no proof he knew what he was taking without the testimony of others, etc.) before 12 Northern Californians gets them no where. It looks like the prosecutors are ready to put this to bed and move on. I wish they could convict Bonds, I just don't see it happening without more...

[JC]

 

Prosecuting Bonds without a solid case (no positive test, no proof he knew what he was taking without the testimony of others, etc.) before 12 Northern Californians gets them no where. It looks like the prosecutors are ready to put this to bed and move on. I wish they could convict Bonds, I just don't see it happening without more...

 

Ready to put this to bed? What makes you say that?

 

While Bonds hasn't been publicly identified as a target, we know he is by virtue of the FBI undercover operation following him and the tax implications. Bonds is no more in the clear now than he was before Conte's plea.

 

Generally speaking, prosecutors don't try to convict people for possession charges just due to evidence of ingestion. However, that does not mean that Bonds isn't subject to trafficing, distribution, and perjury charges in his own right. While there is little public information available in support of the former charges, the latter seems to be in play.

 

I remain skeptical of anything Conte or his attorney may say with respect to cooperation simply because I have some experience with plea deals and the expectation of assistance, not to mention the fact that Conte has freely lied to the press before.

[katway]

 

Prosecuting Bonds without a solid case (no positive test, no proof he knew what he was taking without the testimony of others, etc.) before 12 Northern Californians gets them no where. It looks like the prosecutors are ready to put this to bed and move on. I wish they could convict Bonds, I just don't see it happening without more...

 

Ready to put this to bed? What makes you say that?

 

While Bonds hasn't been publicly identified as a target, we know he is by virtue of the FBI undercover operation following him and the tax implications. Bonds is no more in the clear now than he was before Conte's plea.

 

Generally speaking, prosecutors don't try to convict people for possession charges just due to evidence of ingestion. However, that does not mean that Bonds isn't subject to trafficing, distribution, and perjury charges in his own right. While there is little public information available in support of the former charges, the latter seems to be in play.

 

I remain skeptical of anything Conte or his attorney may say with respect to cooperation simply because I have some experience with plea deals and the expectation of assistance, not to mention the fact that Conte has freely lied to the press before.

 

When is the last time someone got convicted of "unknowingly" possessing steriods? What I'm talking about here is scienter. They've got to prove he knew it to a jury of Northern Californians that have stood by him through thick and thin. I'm saying they're done with this because they only have so much money to throw at what is generally considered a petty crime in the grand scheme of things. Unless they uncovered some new information already and Conte and/or Anderson are testifying, there really is very little to go on. They wouldn't even try to convict a common weight lifting thug on the flimsy information that is publicly known without some testimony, yet alone someone that actually can afford decent attorneys. I just don't see where they have enough to go beyond reasonable doubt if we belive that the reports are true. I see no reason to distrust those reports about cooperation because Conte has been less than truthful in situations where it is his word against someone elses. Here, the plea will be in black and white within the 4 corners of the document.. why would his attorneys lie about it?

[katway]

"None of the athletes publicly has admitted steroid use, and pleas by the four defendants would mean they won't have to repeat their secret grand jury testimony in a public courtroom."

 

See http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-athletes-steroids&prov=ap&type=lgns