Paul Lo Duca, a former Major League Baseball player, has pointed the finger at his former agents for hooking him up with a steroid dealer. He reportedly told investigators that Seth and Sam Levinson introduced him to steroid dealer Kirk Radomski as a source for anabolic steroids, human growth hormone (hGH) and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Lo Duca was the only baseball player who testified that his super-agents were guilty of hooking him up with PEDs.
Seth Levinson, in a statement released on behalf of ACES, vehemently denied the allegations.
Lo Duca was identified as a user of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by the Mitchell Report in December 2007. Lo Duca was one of ten MLB players represented by ACES who were named as steroid users in the report. For some reason, the alleged role played by ACES Inc. never made it into the Mitchell Report. ACES Inc was founded by Seth and Sam Levinson. It is has been one of the most powerful sports agencies in baseball for several years.
News of the alleged role that ACES played in securing steroids for its clients remained a closely guarded secret for almost five years following the publication of the Mitchell Report. But rumors of the association with Radomski resurfaced after the Levinsons were linked to a recent steroid scandal involving Melky Cabrera.
A “paid consultant” employed by ACES allegedly set up a fraudulently website in a misguided attempt to blame Cabrera’s positive steroid test result on a bogus dietary supplement. An MLB investigation into the incident led to the re-opening of the alleged Levinsons-Radomski link.
Radomski claimed that the Levinsons´ reimbursed him for the steroids that he provided for certain clients of ACES. In addition, steroid dealer Brian McNamee testified, at the Roger Clemens trial last summer, that the Levinsons provided hGH to former MLB pitcher Mike Stanton.
MLB officials are now reportedly taking these claims seriously. The investigation may attempt to contact other former clients of ACES who were named in the Mitchell Report to see if the players are willing to corroborate allegations made by Lo Duca.
Howard Shapiro, the attorney for the Levinsons, suggested that Lo Duca’s allegations are the result of a heated dispute over disputed agent fees from several years ago.
Photo credit: Malingering from Los Angeles, Flickr via Wikipedia
Source:
Heyman, J. (September 21, 2012). MLB talks to ex-client Lo Duca as part of Levinsons steroids investigation. Retrieved from http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/20298531/mlb-talks-to-exclient-lo-duca-as-part-of-levinsons-steroids-investigation
