Overzealous Prosecutors Indict Baseball Legend Barry Bonds On Perjury and Obstruction
Holy Hammerin' Hank's Balls! They done did it. Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds has been indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction for allegedly lying in court during an ongoing investigation into the illegal use of anabolic steroids by major league baseball players.
While Bonds was hitting his way past the major league record for home runs, a title set by the aforementioned Hank Aaron with 755, his trainer and long-time friend, Greg Anderson, sat in jail for refusing to testify against his childhood friend about his personal use of steroids. Bonds has maintained his innocence about "knowingly" using the banned substance, to which all parties involved collectively rolled their eyes and sighed heavily.
As the saying goes, they don't get you for the crime, they get you for the cover-up. Just ask Al Capone and Richard Nixon. Well, "asking" them may be a bit difficult, then again, dead men tell no lies.
Ok, enough with the cliches, the crux of this is that after an intensive investigation by the Senate and federal prosecutors (assisted by the Major League Baseball Commission) it became obvious to some, that perhaps Bonds was not being truthful. From the San Jose Mercury article:
In a five-count indictment, Bonds is accused of repeatedly lying under oath to a federal grand jury in December 2003 when questioned by federal prosecutors about his use of steroids and whether he'd received performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Bonds with four counts of perjury and one count of obstructing justice for the allegedly false testimony, all felonies that could send him to federal prison if convicted.
The probe into steriod use was part of broader federal case known as the "Balco steroids scandal," named for the company at the center of the steroid abuse claims. Victor Conte, the founder of Balco has continued to deny any knowledge of Bond's use of the illegal substance and defended the swatter again after hearing word of the indictment today.
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