Former gym owner, former bodybuilder and former police officer Eric Garonzik was sentenced to 12 to 23 months in the Dauphin County Prison Work Release Center and 5 years probation after pleading guilty to steroid distribution and conspiracy charges related to his arrest in the steroid investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office that was codenamed Operation Roid Runner. [Read more…]
Steroids in Sports
Apr
16
Major League Baseball Tells Impoverished Dominicans Not to Use Steroids
Major League Baseball has singled out the Dominican Republic in one of their most ambitious efforts to crack down on the use of anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs among top amateur baseball players. The sport of baseball is an obsession in the small Caribbean country with a population of approximately nine million people. Steroid use was shown to be a major problem last year when MLB tested revealed that 13 of 40 top Dominican prospects were using steroids. Up until this year, top Dominican prospects did not face penalties after a failed steroid test. [Read more…]
Apr
14
Jurors Say Government Totally Failed to Prove Barry Bonds Lied About Steroids
The majority of the jurors in the Barry Bonds steroids-perjury trial thought that the federal government totally failed to prove that Bonds knowingly used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone (hGH). The jury was deadlocked on all of the perjury charges against Bonds and only convicted him on a single obstruction of justice charge.
Eight of the twelve jurors voted to acquit Barry Bonds on Count 1 in which prosecutors allege that Bonds lied about knowingly receiving anabolic steroids from his personal trainer Greg Anderson. Nine of twelve jurors wanted to acquit the baseball star on Count 3 after the feds failed to prove that Barry Bonds lied about receiving hGH from Anderson. [Read more…]
Apr
13
The Confusing Verdict in the Barry Bonds Steroids-Perjury Trial
A federal jury found Barry Bonds guilty of a single count of obstruction of justice but was unable to reach a decision on three other charges facing the former baseball slugger in the case of the United States of America v. Barry Lamar Bonds. Bonds was essentially cleared of three perjury charges after a hung jury resulted in a mistrial on those charges; the government has the option of retrying Bonds on those charges.
The verdict was somewhat confusing to many journalists who wondered how the jury determined Bonds was guilty of obstruction if it wasn’t convinced he was guilty of perjury. Bonds’ appellate attorneys have filed a motion requesting that Judge Susan Illston set aside the jury verdict but this is unlikely to happen. Judge Illston presided over the perjury trial of cyclist Tammy Thomas in which she was found guilty in a legally inconsistent verdict; Illston refused to set aside the verdict in the Thomas case. [Read more…]
Apr
10
Angry Christian Baseball Player Attacks Manny Ramirez Steroid Use
Former Houston Astros’ baseball player Morgan Ensberg felt compelled to lash out at Manny Ramirez by calling him “stupid” as well as “a coward”, “a fake” and “a cheat” in a post on his personal blog. Ramirez recently retired rather than face a 100 game suspension after testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs. Ensberg, a self-proclaimed Christian, repeatedly talked about God in his self-righteous blog post entitled “Manny” as he detailed the angry emotions and feelings caused by Ramirez’s recent retirement. [Read more…]
Apr
09
Barry Bonds Personal Trainer Released from Prison
Greg Anderson, the former personal trainer of Barry Bonds, has been released from federal prison. Anderson was reincarcerated on March 22, 2011 for contempt of court after refusing to testify during the Barry Bonds’ steroid-perjury trial. Judge Susan Illston had ordered Anderson incarcerated for the duration of the trial. The evidence portion of the perjury trial has ended and the fate of Barry Bonds rests in the hands of a federal jury as they deliberate the evidence against him. Anderson was released since his testimony is no longer needed. [Read more…]
Apr
03
Cyclist and Journalist Banned for Testosterone Replacement Therapy Admission in Book
Amateur cyclist and writer Andrew Tilin was banned for two years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after admitting that he used exogenous testosterone as part of a legal testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) regimen in his soon-to-be-released book. Tilin’s book, ‘The Doper Next Door: My Strange and Scandalous Year on Performance-Enhancing Drugs
‘, was written to explore the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by the average Joe in contrast to most published accounts which focus on steroid use by professional and elite athletes. However, the majority of dopers are amateur and recreational athletes.
While writing about the motivations and experiences of these individuals, Tilin apparently decided to experiment with the banned substances on his own. The press releases and book descriptions suggest that Tilin simply used exogenous testosterone in what was described as “legal hormone replacement therapy”. It is unclear if Tilin’s book discussed his experiences with other PEDs. [Read more…]
