NY Daily News
I-TEAM
Under U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, sports policed themselves
NATHANIEL VINTON, MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
For most part, outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stood on sidelines as he let his underlings prosecute some major athletes.
As United States Attorney General, Eric Holder scored plenty of hits, runs and errors, but when it came to policing the sports world, he rarely took the field.
Holder, who announced his resignation Thursday, led the Justice Department through a five-year period in which athletes, owners and leagues constantly made legal news, while Holder seemed content to let the multibillion-dollar sports industry try to regulate itself, with mixed results.
The most glaring example of Holder’s inaction was the free pass given to cyclist Lance Armstrong, who dodged federal charges despite overwhelming evidence that he led a long-running doping conspiracy based on ruthless intimidation tactics and the abuse of controlled substances and taxpayer money. In 2012 Holder’s DOJ suddenly abandoned a ripe grand jury investigation into Armstrong’s cycling teams, whose chief sponsor was the U.S. Postal Service.
On the other hand, lawyers from another division of the DOJ soon went after Armstrong’s wallet, joining whistleblower Floyd Landis in 2013 to pursue a False Claims Act civil action. The case is ongoing, and the DOJ seeks up to $90 million in taxpayer dollars from Armstrong and his cronies.
Holder became the nation’s top law enforcement official in early 2009, when the nation was reeling from the subprime mortgage financial crisis and top Justice Department priorities included terrorism and the war on drugs. But Holder inherited federal criminal cases against Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who had each jeopardized their freedom by going under oath with denials of steroid and human growth hormone use. Bonds would be convicted of obstructing justice, while a Washington jury acquitted Clemens on six felony charges related to his 2008 testimony before Congress.
Holder formally recused himself from the Clemens case due to a conflict of interest. Before becoming attorney general, Holder had worked at the Covington & Burling law firm, where his friend and colleague Lanny Breuer was one of Clemens’ advisers during the 2008 congressional probe. (Breuer became the chief of the DOJ criminal division under Holder.)
The grand jury indicted Clemens in August of 2010, and the case went to trial in July of 2011, but the prosecution seemed doomed from the start. The first trial ended on the second day in a mistrial, after prosecutors showed the jury evidence that U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton had barred.
That might have been the high point of the case for Holder’s Justice Department: The government, led by veteran prosecutors Steve Durham and Dan Butler, seemed outclassed by Clemens’ attorney Rusty Hardin and the rest of the defense team for much of the two-month trial. Hardin shredded the credibility of the government’s most important witness, Brian McNamee, telling the jury that Clemens’ former trainer had a history of lying to investigators and was using the case for self-promotion.
After the trial, one juror told the Daily News that she and her peers didn’t think the case had been worth pursuing. “You have these cutthroat thieves, murderers, drug dealers and drug addicts and you decide to go after somebody who had a reputation for trying to do his best and be the best that he can be, and you attack him?” Joyce Robinson-Paul said of Clemens.
The jury seemed bored from the start. Two jurors were excused early in the case because they were caught napping during testimony. Walton and the lawyers also had courtroom conversations about whether Robinson-Paul had been napping during testimony, too.
Holder’s Justice Dept. also inherited the prosecution of Bonds — from the Bush administration. The San Francisco Giants slugger, accused of lying during his 2003 appearance before the BALCO grand jury, was indicted on perjury and obstruction charges in November of 2007. A Bay Area jury found Bonds guilty of obstruction but could not reach a unanimous verdict on three other charges.
Perhaps the most curious sports-related case prosecuted by Holder’s DOJ involved human growth hormone guru Anthony Galea, the Canadian physician who treated Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods and dozens of other elite athletes. Galea, who became the target of investigators on both sides of the border after his assistant was arrested while trying to bring unapproved drugs into the U.S., pleaded guilty in 2011.
At Galea’s sentencing, Buffalo federal prosecutor Paul Campana said the government did not believe Galea had been involved in doping — an odd statement, since Galea has acknowledged that he used human growth hormone, which is banned by Olympic sports, Major League Baseball, the NFL and other leagues, to help patients recover from injuries.
Long Island attorney Rick Collins, whose practice focuses on bodybuilding, dietary supplements and the fitness industry, said his “subjective impression” is that Holder’s Justice Department has been more aggressive in pursuing steroid cases than the Bush administration. Most of those cases targeted traffickers, Collins said after Holder announced his resignation. “Ten or 15 years ago, we were seeing more possession cases,” Collins said. “The Holder Justice Department seems to be looking at the bigger picture.”
Congressional leaders have also been much less interested in conducting hearings on steroids and sports than they were during the Bush years, Collins said, although the House of Representatives recently passed the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act, which authorizes the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on steroids marketed as dietary supplements. The bill would also place 25 new designer steroids on the DEA’s list of controlled substances. A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate.
Collins said the legislation, and DOJ crackdowns on prohormones (synthetic steroids sold as supplements) may ultimately fuel the black market.
Under U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, sports policed themselves
As United States Attorney General, Eric Holder scored plenty of hits, runs and errors, but when it came to policing the sports world, he rarely took the field. Holder, who announced his resignation Thursday, led the Justice Department through a five-year period in which athletes, owners and leagues constantly made legal news, while Holder seemed content to let the multibillion-dollar sports industry try to regulate itself, with mixed results.
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Barry Bonds' 2003 conviction raises questions for appeals court judges
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http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/attorney-general-eric-holder-sports-policed-article-1.1953348
I-TEAM
Under U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, sports policed themselves
NATHANIEL VINTON, MICHAEL O'KEEFFE
For most part, outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stood on sidelines as he let his underlings prosecute some major athletes.
As United States Attorney General, Eric Holder scored plenty of hits, runs and errors, but when it came to policing the sports world, he rarely took the field.
Holder, who announced his resignation Thursday, led the Justice Department through a five-year period in which athletes, owners and leagues constantly made legal news, while Holder seemed content to let the multibillion-dollar sports industry try to regulate itself, with mixed results.
The most glaring example of Holder’s inaction was the free pass given to cyclist Lance Armstrong, who dodged federal charges despite overwhelming evidence that he led a long-running doping conspiracy based on ruthless intimidation tactics and the abuse of controlled substances and taxpayer money. In 2012 Holder’s DOJ suddenly abandoned a ripe grand jury investigation into Armstrong’s cycling teams, whose chief sponsor was the U.S. Postal Service.
On the other hand, lawyers from another division of the DOJ soon went after Armstrong’s wallet, joining whistleblower Floyd Landis in 2013 to pursue a False Claims Act civil action. The case is ongoing, and the DOJ seeks up to $90 million in taxpayer dollars from Armstrong and his cronies.
Holder became the nation’s top law enforcement official in early 2009, when the nation was reeling from the subprime mortgage financial crisis and top Justice Department priorities included terrorism and the war on drugs. But Holder inherited federal criminal cases against Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who had each jeopardized their freedom by going under oath with denials of steroid and human growth hormone use. Bonds would be convicted of obstructing justice, while a Washington jury acquitted Clemens on six felony charges related to his 2008 testimony before Congress.
Holder formally recused himself from the Clemens case due to a conflict of interest. Before becoming attorney general, Holder had worked at the Covington & Burling law firm, where his friend and colleague Lanny Breuer was one of Clemens’ advisers during the 2008 congressional probe. (Breuer became the chief of the DOJ criminal division under Holder.)
The grand jury indicted Clemens in August of 2010, and the case went to trial in July of 2011, but the prosecution seemed doomed from the start. The first trial ended on the second day in a mistrial, after prosecutors showed the jury evidence that U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton had barred.
That might have been the high point of the case for Holder’s Justice Department: The government, led by veteran prosecutors Steve Durham and Dan Butler, seemed outclassed by Clemens’ attorney Rusty Hardin and the rest of the defense team for much of the two-month trial. Hardin shredded the credibility of the government’s most important witness, Brian McNamee, telling the jury that Clemens’ former trainer had a history of lying to investigators and was using the case for self-promotion.
After the trial, one juror told the Daily News that she and her peers didn’t think the case had been worth pursuing. “You have these cutthroat thieves, murderers, drug dealers and drug addicts and you decide to go after somebody who had a reputation for trying to do his best and be the best that he can be, and you attack him?” Joyce Robinson-Paul said of Clemens.
The jury seemed bored from the start. Two jurors were excused early in the case because they were caught napping during testimony. Walton and the lawyers also had courtroom conversations about whether Robinson-Paul had been napping during testimony, too.
Holder’s Justice Dept. also inherited the prosecution of Bonds — from the Bush administration. The San Francisco Giants slugger, accused of lying during his 2003 appearance before the BALCO grand jury, was indicted on perjury and obstruction charges in November of 2007. A Bay Area jury found Bonds guilty of obstruction but could not reach a unanimous verdict on three other charges.
Perhaps the most curious sports-related case prosecuted by Holder’s DOJ involved human growth hormone guru Anthony Galea, the Canadian physician who treated Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods and dozens of other elite athletes. Galea, who became the target of investigators on both sides of the border after his assistant was arrested while trying to bring unapproved drugs into the U.S., pleaded guilty in 2011.
At Galea’s sentencing, Buffalo federal prosecutor Paul Campana said the government did not believe Galea had been involved in doping — an odd statement, since Galea has acknowledged that he used human growth hormone, which is banned by Olympic sports, Major League Baseball, the NFL and other leagues, to help patients recover from injuries.
Long Island attorney Rick Collins, whose practice focuses on bodybuilding, dietary supplements and the fitness industry, said his “subjective impression” is that Holder’s Justice Department has been more aggressive in pursuing steroid cases than the Bush administration. Most of those cases targeted traffickers, Collins said after Holder announced his resignation. “Ten or 15 years ago, we were seeing more possession cases,” Collins said. “The Holder Justice Department seems to be looking at the bigger picture.”
Congressional leaders have also been much less interested in conducting hearings on steroids and sports than they were during the Bush years, Collins said, although the House of Representatives recently passed the Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act, which authorizes the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on steroids marketed as dietary supplements. The bill would also place 25 new designer steroids on the DEA’s list of controlled substances. A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate.
Collins said the legislation, and DOJ crackdowns on prohormones (synthetic steroids sold as supplements) may ultimately fuel the black market.
Under U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, sports policed themselves
As United States Attorney General, Eric Holder scored plenty of hits, runs and errors, but when it came to policing the sports world, he rarely took the field. Holder, who announced his resignation Thursday, led the Justice Department through a five-year period in which athletes, owners and leagues constantly made legal news, while Holder seemed content to let the multibillion-dollar sports industry try to regulate itself, with mixed results.
Source: Ray Rice gave Roger Goodell detailed account of what happened in casino elevator
Whether Ray Rice hit his fiancée with a balled fist or an open hand is not conclusive in the gritty security video TMZ published on Sept. 8, but the fine distinctions Rice described to Roger Goodell on June 16 may mean everything for the commissioner’s future, especially under cross-examination.
Barry Bonds' 2003 conviction raises questions for appeals court judges
Appeals court judges raised questions and doubts about home run king Barry Bond's obstruction of justice conviction on Thursday, raising the possibility that the 2011 verdict that sprung out of the BALCO case could overturned.
Flag on new NFL aide: Roger Goodell's criminal adviser ripped over abuse probe
The lawyers hired by Yeshiva University in January 2013 to investigate allegations that the Washington Heights school had covered up decades of sexual abuse didn't leave any stone unturned.
Alex Rodriguez unlikely to face charges in Biogenesis case, says lawyer for cousin Yuri Sucart
The attorney representing disgraced Yankee Alex Rodriguez’s cousin in the federal Biogenesis case said he does not think A-Rod will face charges in the ongoing investigation.
http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/attorney-general-eric-holder-sports-policed-article-1.1953348
