Barry Bonds (Juiced Merge)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

6/18/06

NOTEBOOK

Playing more in Seattle wouldn’t bother Bonds

Sunday, June 18, 2006


ASSOCIATED PRESS

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It took less than a day for slowing superstar Barry Bonds to field the inevitable question, a tantalizing one that has been bouncing around baseball for months.
Has he thought about moving to the American League and becoming a designated hitter next season to continue his pursuit of Hank Aaron’s career home run record? And would he consider doing it in Seattle, where he hit his 718 th homer Friday night — leaving him 37 behind Aaron’s mark?
"I can’t answer that until the winter comes up," Bonds said Friday night after striking out to end a 5-4 San Francisco loss.
But he added that he liked playing in Safeco Field, calling it "a great ballpark."
No wonder. Entering yesterday, he had two home runs in four regular-season games in the stadium. "If they call me, then we’ll talk," Bonds said of the Mariners, almost teasingly and with a wide grin.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

6/20/06

Giants coaches contacted by Mitchell

JANIE McCAULEY

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Members of the San Francisco Giants' coaching staff have been contacted by former Sen. George Mitchell in his independent investigation of steroids in baseball.
"I understand some guys were supposed to (talk to him)," Giants manager Felipe Alou told The Associated Press on Monday. "That's all I know. That is very personal. I don't ask these guys."
Several people within Major League Baseball confirmed that coaches on Alou's staff had heard from Mitchell. They spoke on condition of anonymity after being asked not to discuss the investigation publicly. Harvey Shields, one of Giants slugger Barry Bonds' personal trainers, who works for the team, also was being sought by Mitchell.
The former Senate majority leader was appointed in March by commissioner Bud Selig to head the league's investigation into steroids in the sport.
Bonds, second on the career home run list behind Hank Aaron, is among the players being investigated.
Alou said he had not yet been contacted by Mitchell, "but I probably will."
A Giants spokesman said the entire coaching staff declined to comment about Mitchell's investigation because Major League Baseball asked teams not to discuss the subject publicly to protect the integrity of the probe.
Selig has said he was prompted to launch an investigation in part by the spring release of the book "Game of Shadows," by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who detailed Bonds' alleged use of steroids, insulin and human growth hormone.
There is no timetable for completing the investigation.
Authors Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada wrote that Bonds started using steroids because he was jealous of the attention paid to Mark McGwire's home run race with Sammy Sosa in 1998.
The 41-year-old Bonds, who passed Babe Ruth with his 715th career home run last month, has always denied using steroids of any other performance-enhancing drugs - insisting everything he has accomplished is a product of natural talent and hard work.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

6/23/06

Feds ID BALCO founder as paper's source

DAVID KRAVETS and PAUL ELIAS

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - E-mails seized by federal authorities identify the convicted founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative as a source in the San Francisco Chronicle's reporting on the steroids scandal, according to an online court filing that accidentally revealed confidential information.
The filing details exchanges between Chronicle reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada and Victor Conte, who jokingly suggests in one message that he be placed on the newspaper's payroll in exchange for information about grand jury testimony by elite athletes.
It was unclear from the filing whether Conte provided the reporters with grand jury transcripts, but it does show Conte discussing the testimony of athletes about their steroid use.
Beginning in 2004, the Chronicle published a series of stories citing the grand jury testimony of Giants slugger Barry Bonds, Yankees star Jason Giambi and others. The government has been investigating who leaked the transcripts to Fainaru-Wada and fellow reporter Lance Williams. Both men are fighting subpoenas to testify in that case.
Through his lawyer, Conte denied Thursday that he was the source of the leak.
"Mr. Conte did not leak grand jury transcripts," attorney Mary McNamara said. "It is unclear why the government's submission discusses e-mails that plainly prove no breach of the law by Mr. Conte."
Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein said it was alarming the government was reviewing communications between a source and a journalist, but would not disclose whether Conte was the leaker.
"Remember, this is not a national security case or anything approaching it" Bronstein said.
The government obtained the communications when it raided Conte's house in a San Francisco suburb in January, 2005, according to the document.
Sections of Wednesday's government filing were electronically blacked out to protect what prosecutors said was sensitive material concerning the grand jury's investigation. But those passages are revealed when the document is pasted into a word processing program.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, who are conducting the leak probe, said the government committed an "unfortunate error, one that we regret" for failing to properly hide the blacked-out material.
The filing doesn't say that Conte gave the Chronicle the 30,000 pages of testimony by top athletes who appeared before the BALCO grand jury, though they show Conte discussing the secret testimony with Fainaru-Wada.
Conte, who pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges and served four months in prison, was privy to the sealed grand jury transcripts because they were available to the BALCO defendants, their attorneys and government authorities connected to the case.
"I would say at this point the only way the athletes' grand jury testimonies will come out is at trial," Conte wrote in a June 18, 2004 e-mail to Fainaru-Wada. "Unless I just give you a copy of the indexed CD rom that contains all 30 thousand pages of evidence. How would you like that? Just kidding."
Fainaru-Wada immediately replied: "OK, why not, you talked me into it. ... Wondering if you should even joke about that; I've become somewhat paranoid about e-mail these days. My wild imagination at work."
In another exchange, Conte confirmed that Giambi admitted to the grand jury he took steroids.
On June 24, 2004, immediately after the Chronicle published portions of the grand jury testimony of Olympic sprinter Tim Montgomery, Conte sent the reporter an angry e-mail titled "The End," threatening to cut off communication between them.
Nonetheless, Conte e-mailed Fainaru-Wada again that same day and asked if the newspaper's lawyers had concerns about publishing the secret testimony, which he compared to selling stolen property.
"This is not something I can discuss in any way," Fainaru-Wada responded, "than to say I believe we're fine."
The government told a judge Wednesday that its investigation of the leak came up empty, and that's why it subpoenaed Fainaru-Wada and Williams to testify before a grand jury and reveal their source.
Conte's lawyer said that fact alone shows the government does not have enough to indict his client as being the leaker.
"It's clear there isn't sufficient evidence against Mr. Conte," McNamara said.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

6/26/06

Bonds leaves game with knee irritation

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds left Sunday's game against the Oakland Athletics after the second inning with irritation in his left knee, a day after the San Francisco slugger connected for his 719th home run.
Bonds is day to day. The seven-time NL MVP had surgery on his left knee after the 2004 season ended, then underwent three operations on his right knee last year.
Fans booed when A's starter Esteban Loaiza walked Bonds on four pitches leading off the second. He scored on Steve Finley's double to left-center two batters later, but was clearly uncomfortable running the bases and hobbled home with a grimace on his face.
Bonds, who turns 42 on July 24, was replaced in left field by Mark Sweeney in the top of the third. Backup catcher Todd Greene came in to replace Sweeney at first base, where he started the game.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

6/28/06

Bonds says he hasn't heard from Mitchell

JANIE McCAULEY

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds said Tuesday he hasn't heard yet from former Sen. George Mitchell in his independent investigation of steroids in baseball.
Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader, was appointed in March by commissioner Bud Selig to head the league's investigation into steroids. He has already contacted some members of the San Francisco Giants' coaching staff.
Bonds, who has always denied using performance-enhancing drugs to fuel his home run chase, said he is determined to stay upbeat despite his decreased production this season, a sore, tired body, and his off-the-field issues.
"I'm doing good, ain't I? I'm going to be a positive person no matter what," Bonds said. "As long as my health is good and my family's happy, I'm going to be happy."
Bonds returned to the Giants' lineup for Tuesday night's interleague series opener against the Texas Rangers after he left Sunday's game against the Oakland Athletics following the second inning with irritation in his left knee.
Bonds, who turns 42 on July 24, is batting .252 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs this season and has drawn 62 walks - 26 intentional. With 719 career homers, he is second on the career list behind Hank Aaron (755).
"I'm loving life," Bonds said. "I'm just going to roll with it and have fun."
What is he struggling with?
"Everything," Bonds said, chuckling. "But I'm happy. I'm enjoying myself. I wave to the people outside, cheery."
Bonds said he hurt his left knee - he had three operations on the right one in 2005 - stealing a base Friday night for the first time in nearly two years after team broadcaster Mike Krukow challenged the seven-time NL MVP's speed. Bonds acknowledged his competitive nature took over and he might have pushed his body too hard to prove Krukow wrong.
"I can only do it once. I need a break after that," Bonds said. "I'm not slow. I've played like this most of my career."
Bonds also reiterated that he doesn't plan to be in Pittsburgh for next month's All-Star game. He wants ace Jason Schmidt, another former Pirates player, to represent the Giants.
"Been there, done that," he said of returning to the city where he started his career. "Schmitty deserves it. He should represent this team. He's pitched well all year."
While Bonds was ready to play again, right fielder Moises Alou missed another day after receiving a cortisone injection in his troublesome lower back on Monday's off day. He has missed eight games with back spasms.
Bonds and Alou have played only 30 games together dating to last season, and the Giants are 13-8 with both of them in the lineup this year.
"Me and Mo are just trying to figure out what somebody has with us being on the field at the same time," Bonds said. "Somebody has a hex on us. We need to figure out what it is and kill it."
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

6/30/06

Bonds' personal trainer refuses to testify

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds' personal trainer refused to testify Thursday to the federal grand jury investigating the San Francisco slugger for perjury.
Greg Anderson, who served three months in prison after pleading guilty last year for his role in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid scandal, could be sent back to prison if found in contempt of court for refusing to testify.
A hearing will be held next Wednesday, and Judge William Alsup said he would rule next week on whether Anderson should be found in contempt.
Anderson's attorney, Mark Geragos, said his client should not have to testify because he was the victim of an illegal government wiretap that he said resulted in a recording of Anderson saying he provided Bonds with "undetectable" drugs to help him beat baseball's drug testing program in 2003.
The details of the recording were first reported in October 2004 by the San Francisco Chronicle, which obtained a copy from a confidential news source.
Prosecutor Jeff Nedrow revealed Thursday that his office had obtained a copy of the recording last summer.
Alsup ruled that the recording was "not a wiretap, but a privately recorded conversation with a witness," and that there was no legal reason for Anderson not to testify.
Nedrow said he wanted to question Anderson about the recording and a "mountain" of other evidence.
Geragos argued that the government had violated the terms of Anderson's plea bargain by subpoenaing him for the subsequent grand jury proceedings. Alsup rejected the arguments, but Geragos said he would take them up again at next week's hearing.
The grand jury is investigating whether Bonds perjured himself when he testified to the original BALCO grand jury in December 2003 that he never knowingly used steroids or other banned performance enhancing drugs.
The grand jury heard testimony Thursday from Dr. Larry Bowers, medical director of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the Chronicle reported. Bowers accompanied federal agents on the September 2003 raid on BALCO and is familiar with documents seized in the raid that described athletes' drug use.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

7/6/06

BASEBALL NOTEBOOK

Bonds’ trainer jailed for refusing to testify

Thursday, July 06, 2006


ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Barry Bonds’ personal trainer was held in contempt of court and taken to prison yesterday for refusing to testify to the federal grand jury investigating the San Francisco Giants’ slugger for perjury.
Greg Anderson, who served three months in prison after pleading guilty last year for his role in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid scandal, was led out of U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s courtroom in San Francisco by two deputy U.S. marshals. He will be housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in nearby Dublin, but his stay might be short.
That’s because Anderson will be set free once the grand jury’s term expires, which will occur within weeks, Alsup said.
Anderson was initially ordered in March to testify to the grand jury investigating whether Bonds perjured himself when he testified to the original BALCO grand jury in December 2003 that he never knowingly used steroids or other banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Alsup denied Anderson’s request for bail or to remain free while his attorney, Mark Geragos, appeals the decision.
Geragos said Anderson won’t testify and will be released once the grand jury’s term expires. While Geragos, the federal prosecutor and the judge hearing the case said the grand jury’s term will expire soon, all declined to comment exactly when that will be.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

7/9/06

Sore knee sidelines Bonds against Dodgers

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->LOS ANGELES - Barry Bonds wasn't in the San Francisco Giants' lineup Saturday because of a sore right knee.
He said he hopes to start Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break.
"I just twisted it on the first swing, tried to get out of the box yesterday," Bonds said before the Giants played the Los Angeles Dodgers. "It was bothering me the whole time in the outfield, running.
"I don't ever wear spikes, I wore spikes yesterday, I caught my spike in the dirt. The dirt was softer. It's not bad, it's just a little bit sore. I'm just giving it a day to calm down. I can hit. All my friends are coming out today and I'm not playing."
Although Bonds hurt himself on his first at-bat Friday night, he managed to hit his 720th homer in his second appearance - his 12th of the season and first since June 24. Bonds, who turns 42 on July 24, is 35 home runs behind career leader Hank Aaron.
Bonds connected off Dodgers rookie Chad Billingsley, hitting a three-run drive into the right-center field pavilion to give the Giants a 5-4 lead in a game they eventually lost 9-7. The seven-time NL MVP added an RBI single in the ninth.
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[Bucklion]

Bonds could be indicted soon...

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/434215p-365815c.html

 

[NFBuck]

Still an ass...

 

[Wingate1217]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Sources see indictment
on deck for Barry
</TD></TD><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>BY MICHAEL O'KEEFFE in Pittsburgh
and T.J. QUINN in New York
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>[SIZE=-1]Barry Bonds may be chasing Hank Aaron, but he too is being pursued. [/SIZE]</TD></TR><TR><TD width=10 height=10><!--

--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp -->Barry Bonds has played in 13 All-Star Games during his career, but during yesterday's All-Star media sessions he seemed like one of those old Soviet leaders who were airbrushed out of photographs when they fell out of favor with their peers.
While the players themselves tried to avoid any topic outside the gentle fairways of good news, the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco is mulling over whether it will seek an indictment against Bonds, perhaps as soon as next week. Bonds is facing possible indictment for perjury and tax evasion, and the grand jury that has been hearing evidence against him is due to expire within the next couple of weeks.
Generally, several attorneys said, when a grand jury comes to the end of its term, a prosecutor will seek an indictment. Getting the indictment isn't difficult: As former New York State chief justice Sol Wachtler famously told the Daily News in 1985, a grand jury would "indict a ham sandwich."
But if Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney in San Francisco, gets the indictment he wants from the grand jury, "it will be because they believe they have enough to convict, not because they think it will give them leverage or result in a plea or something like that," said Long Island attorney Rick Collins, the author of "Legal Muscle: Anabolics in America."
Bonds' longtime friend and personal trainer, Greg Anderson, one of four men convicted in the BALCO steroid trafficking case, was sent back to prison by a judge last week and denied bail for refusing to testify before the grand jury. (Anderson's attorney yesterday asked a California appeals court to allow his client to be freed on bail.) Though Anderson is not available, several other key witnesses have appeared. Among them: Bonds' former physician Arthur Ting; Giants trainer Stan Conte (no relation to BALCO founder Victor); and Kimberly Bell, who reportedly told the grand jury that Bonds gave her about $80,000 in possibly undeclared cash and admitted to her he used anabolic steroids before he was introduced to BALCO.
Bonds told a grand jury in December 2003 that he did not knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs.
Sources within Major League Baseball said they have no inside information, but expect that the troubled slugger will be indicted. On one of the next few Thursdays, the grand jury will meet in the Philip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco and may be asked to weigh the evidence. If at least 12 of the 23 members agree that there is "probable cause" that a crime has been committed and Bonds is the one who committed it, they will return a "true bill," otherwise known as an indictment. The grand jury could also return a "not true" bill, meaning it will not indict. The U.S. attorney could also decide not to seek an indictment at that point, or request an extension for the grand jury from the judge.
Collins said he thinks the feds would have a tough time getting an extension.
"I'm not so sure there would be a basis for it," he said, noting that he is not familiar with all the facts in the case. "If the government doesn't know what witnesses they need now, they never will."
Several senior MLB sources said they believe Bonds likely will be indicted, and that they found plenty of damning information about Bonds in their own investigation, launched secretly a year before commissioner Bud Selig appointed former U.S. Senator George Mitchell to conduct an inquiry in the spring.
A Bonds indictment, coming just two months after he passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list, would be a public relations calamity for the game. But players, coaches and baseball executives at the All-Star festivities said they haven't paid attention to his legal problems.
"I don't know," Mets shortstop Jose Reyes said, "and I don't want to talk about it."
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher B.J. Ryan claimed geographical ignorance. "I don't get caught up in that story because we're on the East Coast and they are on the West Coast," he said.
Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said it was a league thing.
"We're so far removed from it in the American League. It's not something I put a great deal of thought into," he said. "I just know this - the game is bigger than anybody and I think that's proven time and time again."
Tommy Lasorda seems to have an opinion on just about everything, but the longtime former Dodgers manager said he couldn't talk about Bonds' future. "I have no idea what's going to happen, so there's no sense in commenting," Lasorda said. "Nobody else does, either."

Originally published on July 11, 2006
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

yahoo.com

7/12/06

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=750 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class="" vAlign=top width=560>Speculation mounting on possible Bonds perjury indictment

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" type="block" height="1"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Speculation mounting on possible Bonds perjury indictment</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER width="1" type="block" height="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer

July 12, 2006


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- With the grand jury investigating Barry Bonds apparently nearing the end of its term, speculation has swirled around the possibility that one of the game's greatest sluggers could be indicted for perjury or other crimes.
Last week, a federal judge who ordered Bonds' personal trainer jailed for refusing to testify against the San Francisco Giants star said the grand jury's probe into whether Bonds lied under oath about steroid use would end within weeks.

And Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, has said that if the outfielder was to be indicted, it would come in July.


At least one Internet sportsbook has begun taking bets on whether Bonds will be indicted by July 31. Costa Rica-based Bodog.com is allowing a maximum bet of $50 on the yes-no question. Las Vegas casinos said they won't post similar wagers.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan declined to comment whether the investigation was near completion. That's no surprise, a former top lieutenant to Ryan said Wednesday, because grand jury proceedings are by necessity a closely held secret.

"On the one hand, the grand jury is entitled to truthful witnesses and, on the other hand, the rules of secrecy must be observed," said Jonathan Howden, the U.S. attorney's former chief of organized crime and drug enforcement.

The investigation centers not on whether Bonds used steroids -- which is not a crime -- but on whether he lied under oath about using a performance-enhancing substance known as "the clear."

A new grand jury was convened to consider perjury and possibly other charges against Bonds, and has been meeting in secret for several months. Witnesses known to have testified in the probe include Giants trainer Stan Conte and Bonds' surgeon, Arthur Ting.

Rains has identified Bonds' former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, and former friend Steve Hoskins as key witnesses in the probe.

Hoskins' lawyer, Michael Cardoza, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. Bell declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press.

Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, is sitting in a Bay Area jail because he refused to testify against his childhood friend.

Lawyers involved in the case pointed to the government's treatment of Anderson as evidence that Bonds could be in trouble.

"I think that he is going to be indicted," said Brian Getz, who represented former world champion sprinter Michelle Collins when she testified two years ago in the BALCO probe. Collins was suspended for four years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and lost her 2003 world and U.S. indoor titles for using banned substances.

Rains did not return calls Wednesday.

The case against Bonds arose from his 2003 testimony before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a nutritional supplement company exposed as the steroid supplier to top athletes.

Five men connected to BALCO pleaded guilty to steroid distribution and other charges. Anderson was one of them, and was handed a three-month prison sentence and three months of home confinement.

The BALCO grand jury took testimony from about two dozen athletes, including Bonds. Asked whether he had used the performance-enhancing drug known as "the clear, Bonds testified he thought Anderson had given him the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis.

The San Francisco Chronicle published the testimony of Bonds and other athletes, and two of its reporters are fighting a subpoena to testify in a separate probe of who leaked the BALCO testimony to the newspaper. The reporters, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, could go to jail because of their refusal to cooperate with investigators.

The BALCO case has forced major league baseball to toughen its steroid-testing policy and has elevated public awareness over steroids.

With 720 homers, Bonds is 35 behind all-time leader Hank Aaron. He is batting .249 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs this year, and has missed 20 games with knee problems. Bonds turns 42 later this month.

If charged with perjury and convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. He could face another five years if charged and convicted of money laundering for allegedly giving tens of thousands in unreported income to Bell, his former mistress. Although the grand jury is set to expire soon, the government can extend the 24-member panel or empanel a new grand jury for up to 18 months to continue the investigation, lawyers said.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

7/14/06

Bonds' ex-friend may affect jury probe

JORDAN ROBERTSON

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds and Steve Hoskins were boyhood friends who went into business together and made a lot of money selling the San Francisco slugger's autographs. But the relationship collapsed when Bonds accused Hoskins of stealing from him and took the case to federal prosecutors.
Now, the Redwood City businessman might be getting his revenge by talking to investigators about Bonds' alleged steroid use and the alleged diversion of proceeds from memorabilia sales to Bonds' girlfriends.
A grand jury considering possible perjury charges against Bonds met again Thursday in San Francisco, and Bonds' lawyer, Michael Rains, has identified Hoskins and the player's former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, as key witnesses in the probe.
Hoskins' lawyer, Michael Cardoza, declined to say Thursday whether his client had testified before the grand jury, but he discussed the falling out between his client and Bonds and said Hoskins believes the slugger's angry outbursts at the time were caused by steroids.
"It appeared he was in a sort of steroid rage, the way he was acting," Cardoza said. "That's what we thought was causing him to act that way."
Steroid allegations surrounding Bonds intensified in 2003 when he testified before a different federal grand jury about his relationship to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the nutritional supplement lab at the center of doping scandals in both track and field and baseball.
Hoskins did not return messages left Thursday at his home and business, Kent Collectibles, in San Carlos.
He and Bonds grew up together outside San Francisco and after Bonds signed with the Giants as a free agent in 1993, the ballplayer helped Hoskins go into business selling sports memorabilia bearing Bonds' signature.
Hoskins became a fixture in the Giants' clubhouse, but a rift opened during spring training 2003 when Bonds spotted a fan wearing a jersey bearing his autograph that he claimed was a fake, Cardoza said.
He flew into a rage, and Hoskins had to convince him the autograph was authentic, but simmering tensions between the two came to a head, Cardoza said.
"That's what started the big rift," Cardoza said. "And the big rift was already going on, because Barry was demanding more from Steve. He was being even more demanding and abusive of Steve. The chasm between Barry and Steve really started to widen then."
Some of the tension can be traced to an arrangement Bonds had requested for delivering money to two girlfriends, Cardoza said.
Bonds gave more than $100,000 of his profits from the business to Hoskins to pass along to those girlfriends, including down payments on homes and a car for Bell, Cardoza said.
Rains could not be reached Thursday to respond to Cardoza's claims.
Bonds claimed Hoskins was forging the player's signature on contracts and keeping proceeds from sales of memorabilia that was to have been split between the two partners, according to Cardoza.
Bonds made "an obscene amount of money that would make a normal human being cringe" for the autographs, but felt Hoskins was not paying him what he was owed, Cardoza said.
Soon after, Bonds went to the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco and filed a complaint about Hoskins, Cardoza said.
Hoskins met with federal prosecutors, according to his lawyer. He presented detailed records of all disputed transactions and the investigation was dropped a year later, Cardoza said.
Hoskins did not know whether Bonds was paying taxes on profits from the memorabilia business, Cardoza said.
The timing of the dispute between Bonds and his former friend raises questions about whether Hoskins agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors investigating whether Bonds lied to a grand jury in December 2003, when he reportedly said he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.
A grand jury has been meeting in secret for months to consider charges against Bonds. Witnesses known to have testified in the probe include Giants trainer Stan Conte and Bonds' surgeon, Arthur Ting.
Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, who served three months in prison after pleading guilty last year for his role in the BALCO scandal, has been jailed since July 5 for refusing a judge's order to testify before the grand jury.
In court papers filed with a federal appeals court Monday, Anderson's attorney Mark Geragos argued that his client shouldn't have to testify because previous grand jury testimony has been publicly disclosed. Geragos also argued that Anderson's plea agreement last year stipulated that he will not cooperate with the government's investigation and stated the trainer was a target of an illegal wiretap.
The government filed papers with the appeals court Thursday arguing against releasing Anderson, but asked that the submission be kept sealed. The court declined to release the government's papers pending a ruling from a judge, expected Friday.
With the grand jury widely expected to deliver its findings soon, the relationship that boiled over between Bonds and Hoskins could play a key role in any indictment against one of baseball's greatest sluggers.
Bonds hit 12 home runs in the first half of this season to give him 720 for his career, 35 from tying home run king Hank Aaron's record of 755. He passed Babe Ruth and moved into second place on the career list with No. 715 on May 28.
He's batting .249 this season with 38 RBIs, and has missed 20 games with knee problems.
If charged with perjury and convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. He could face another five years if charged and convicted of money laundering.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

7/15/06

Bonds' may be indicted within week

PAUL ELIAS and DAVID KRAVETS

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds' legal team is preparing for the San Francisco slugger to be indicted as soon as next week and has begun plotting his defense.
Attorney Laura Enos told The Associated Press on Friday that Bonds, second on the career home run list, could be charged with tax evasion and perjury.
Enos, Bonds' personal attorney, also said the lawyers believe the grand jury investigating the star player will expire next Thursday.
"We are very prepared," Enos said. "We have excellent tax records and we are very comfortable that he has not shortchanged the government at all."
Also Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to free Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, from prison. A federal judge on July 5 ordered Anderson jailed until he agreed to testify before the grand jury investigating Bonds.
Anderson was one of five people convicted in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal. The Burlingame-based nutritional supplement company was exposed as a steroid laboratory for top athletes.
The grand jury is probing Bonds for allegedly lying to a different grand jury that led to Anderson's conviction.
Bonds testified in 2003 that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs and said Anderson had given him flaxseed oil and arthritis balm, not steroids.
The BALCO probe netted calendars and other documents connecting Bonds to the lab.
Former girlfriend Kimberly Bell is a key witness in the case and has testified that Bonds told her of his steroid use and flew into rages she attributed to steroid use, according to grand jury testimony obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Enos said Bonds denies those allegations and will argue that Bell's testimony amounts to "pillow talk."
"It's a 'he said, she said' thing," Enos said.
The grand jury also is believed to be investigating Bonds for tax evasion in connection with cash he allegedly gave Bell to buy a house. The money came from sales of Bonds' signatures on baseball memorabilia, and the income allegedly was not reported to the IRS.
Enos said that claim - based upon the ex-girlfriend's testimony and the allegations of childhood friend and former business partner Steve Hoskins - was untrue. Enos said Hoskins gave Bell the cash to curry favor with Bonds and to thank the slugger for helping him become rich by putting him in charge of a lucrative memorabilia business.
Enos said Hoskins also bought Bonds a $350,000 Bentley Rolls Royce, which she said Bonds paid $150,000 in gift taxes.
"The guy without Barry didn't have a penny," Enos said.
Hoskins recently has surfaced as another key government witness in the investigation of Bonds. He was a boyhood friend who went into business with the baseball star, selling such memorabilia as signed jerseys, bats and baseball cards. The two had a falling out in 2003, which Enos said was over Bonds' accusations that Hoskins forged the slugger's signature on at least two endorsement contracts and sold Bonds' gear without his permission.
Hoskins' lawyer, Michael Cardoza, said he was "laughing" at Bonds' defense.
"I'm laughing because I love this defense. Tell them to think of a better story," he said. "Tell them to put that defense on and to keep believing their client. They're going to get it shoved down their throats."
Bonds hit 12 home runs in the first half of this season to give him 720 for his career, 35 from tying Hank Aaron's record of 755. Bonds passed Babe Ruth and moved into second place on the career list with No. 715 on May 28.
He's batting .249 this season with 38 RBIs, and has missed 20 games because of knee problems.
If charged with perjury and convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. He could face another five years if charged and convicted of money laundering.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

7/19/6

Unpaid taxes could be Bonds' downfall

DAVID KRAVETS and PAUL ELIAS

Associated Press

<!-- begin body-content -->SAN FRANCISCO - The easy money Barry Bonds made by aggressively selling his name, likeness and sports equipment through his Web site and brief autograph sessions in hotel conference rooms could prove to be the embattled slugger's legal undoing.
A federal grand jury is probing whether he paid taxes on some of that fortune, and key government witnesses include a scorned business partner and a jilted lover who profited from the name "Barry Bonds." He also is being investigated for allegedly lying to another federal grand jury about his steroid use.
Legal analysts said proving the Giants star cheated the IRS out of its cut of memorabilia sales is far easier to prove than perjury.
If so, Bonds wouldn't be the first professional athlete to run afoul of the IRS over sales of autographed jerseys, balls and baseball cards.
Pete Rose in 1990 served five months in prison for not reporting income from memorabilia. Several other prominent players - including Darryl Strawberry and Hall of Famers Duke Snider and Willie McCovey - were busted in the 1990s for not properly reporting such income.
Brian Hennigan, a Los Angeles lawyer who represented Strawberry when the baseball player pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1995, said it's relatively easy to fall into tax trouble because the memorabilia business is largely cash-and-carry.
Sports memorabilia is a multimillion-dollar enterprise for professional athletes. Bonds sells his jerseys for as much as $1,900 on his Web site.
"The money is so easily accessible," Hennigan said. "There's going to be a lot of cash, and the promoter says 'Here is an envelope, it's full of cash' and it's just handed to you and you drive away and there aren't any forms to sign."
Strawberry was sentenced to six months of home confinement and ordered to pay $350,000 in back taxes. Other athletes have paid fines and back taxes to settle their tax problems.
"The sentence certainly depends on how much money is involved and how long it has been going on," Hennigan said. "If the athlete gets a lot of cash and never reports any of it, more likely than not the government is going to look at it harshly."
A Bonds indictment could come as soon as Thursday when the grand jury investigating his case is expected to end its service.
But the grand jury's term could be extended or a new panel could be given the investigation, former prosecutors said.
Nonetheless, it's clear Bonds is in a legal pickle. Laura Enos, one of Bonds' attorneys, said the slugger's legal team would be "crazy" if it was not preparing a defense, although she says her client is innocent and should not be indicted. She said she has no knowledge of a pending indictment.
The left fielder's latest legal troubles began in 2003, after he told federal authorities that boyhood friend Steve Hoskins, who ran his memorabilia business, had forged his signature on contracts and sold his gear without permission.
But Hoskins countered that Bonds was giving tens of thousands of dollars in cash made from the sales to Bonds' then-girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, according to Hoskins' attorney, Michael Cardoza.
Bell didn't return telephone calls.
At times, Bonds sold autographed baseballs "as fast as he could" for $100 apiece, Cardoza said. Bonds would arrange the signing sessions when Bell complained that she needed cash, according to Aphrodite Jones, who spent six months with Bell in a failed bid to publish a book about Bell's affair with Bonds.
The specter of an indictment and of bogus Bonds paraphernalia is putting a damper on sales of Bonds' name.
"The sale of his memorabilia is pretty soft right now, understandably so," said Doug Allen, president of Mastro Auctions, of Burr Ridge, Ill. "There's a lot of question marks surrounding him."
Jones said Bell used proceeds from Bonds' memorabilia sales to make an $80,000 down payment for a Scottsdale, Ariz. house. The government reportedly is looking into the source of the house payment in its tax-evasion investigation.
Enos said Bonds denies those allegations and will argue that Bell's testimony amounts to "pillow talk."
The perjury case against Bonds arose from his 2003 testimony before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a nutritional supplement company exposed as the steroid supplier to top athletes. Bonds testified that he didn't knowingly ingest steroids given to him by his personal trainer, according to grand jury transcripts obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Five men connected to BALCO pleaded guilty to steroid distribution and other charges.
Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer, served three months in prison for his role in the ring. Now, Anderson is behind bars again for refusing to testify in the ongoing Bonds' probe.
If convicted of perjury, Bonds could face up to five years in prison. He could face another five years if convicted of money laundering.
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