The Los Angeles Times is reporting that baseball legend Barry Bonds has been found guilty of one count of obstruction of justice by a federal jury for allegedly lying about taking performance-enhancing drugs. The judge in the case declared a mistrial on three remaining counts, including perjury.
Bonds was charged with four federal felony counts for denying under oath to a grand jury in 2003 that he had knowingly used steroids or human growth hormones and for maintaining that his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, had never injected him. Prosecutors said that Bonds lied repeatedly to a grand jury to protect his reputation. Defense attorneys charged that the government had a vendetta against Bonds and used lying witnesses to try to convict him.
Jurors heard three key prosecution witnesses: Steve Hoskins, a childhood friend who was close to Bonds for 10 years until the two had a falling-out in early 2003; Kimberly Bell, Bonds' girlfriend of nine years; and Kathy Hoskins, Steve's younger sister, who said she was packing Bonds' clothes for a road trip when she saw Anderson inject the ballplayer.
Each count against Bonds carried a possible maximum sentence of 10 years, but federal sentencing guidelines recommend 15 to 21 months in prison for a conviction.
Now the entire world knows what has been suspected for almost a decade: Barry Bonds took performance-enhancing drugs, like many other baseball "legends" during the steroid era. It's interesting that few commented on the significant physical changes that Bonds experienced while he was literally sending balls into the Bay. Those hits meant more money, power and prestige for Bonds and the game. Hope it was worth it.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times.
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