Posted on 04/23/2013 5:36:35 PM PDT by jazusamo
The Department of Justice said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that cyclist Lance Armstrong was "unjustly enriched" while he used steroids to win multiple Tour de France titles.
In the formal complaint, the Justice Department said they would seek triple damages against Armstrong, who admitted earlier this year that he doped to win his seven straight titles. The U.S. Postal Service paid some $40 million to appear as the title sponsor of Armstrong's team during six of those seven races.
"Defendants were unjustly enriched to the extent of the payments and other benefits they received from the USPS, either directly or indirectly," the complaint said, according to the Associated Press .
The Justice Department had previously announced its intention to join the lawsuit against Armstrong, brought by ex-teammate Floyd Landis. According to the government, Armstrong and his managers repeatedly insisted that the cyclist was not using steroids while being sponsored by USPS.
“The Postal Service has now seen its sponsorship unfairly associated with what has been described as ‘the most sophisticated, professionalized, and successful doping program that sport has ever seen,’" U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said at the time.
"This lawsuit is designed to help the Postal Service recoup the tens of millions of dollars it paid out to the Tailwind cycling team based on years of broken promises. In today’s economic climate, the U.S. Postal Service is simply not in a position to allow Lance Armstrong or any of the other defendants to walk away with the tens of millions of dollars they illegitimately procured.”
The government needs to prove not only that Armstrong deceived them, but that the Postal Service was damaged by Armstrong's cheating.
Armstrong has been disqualified of all his competitive results dating back to August, 1998, and banned from life from competitive cycling.
Armstrong is also facing lawsuits from a Texas promotional company and the Sunday Times, a British newspaper that paid Armstrong half a million dollars to settle a libel lawsuit after reporting he had taken steroids.
Good grief.
Like Holder doesn’t have other cases to waste our money on.
I’m not a lawyer but I’d say this will be hard to win.
Just peachy. Some doofus does steroids, states legalize weed, and the mooslims blowus up. Priorities?
Yeah, the Dept. of Justice are certainly experts in “unjustly”.
Only problem with it is that the Postal Service made money on the deal, so what losses from it could they show?
Are they going to file suit Against Obama next? After all the same argument applies.
Lance Armstrong is an evil person who ripped off many, including taxpayers (via the US Government). LA richly deserves to be sued by the Justice Department.
Obama, Valjar, and Holder are having a good laugh at America.
Yep, it seems to me DOJ has many more important things right now, of course the Obama/Holder Just Us Dept. operates with a different set of priorities.
I still think it is awesome when Americans beat French pussies at their own sport.
Oh, and what about the millions he has raised for your fake ass cancer research? You going to give that back?
Spot on.
C’mon. The guy practically invented jazz. Cut him a break.
Perjury is a federal crime!
This is just petty low rate stuff you’d expect from Holder’s ilk.
At the time Armstrong had not been confirmed as a drugger and the USPS
paid him to use his good image (of that time) to excuse their piss poor
record. They got what they paid for. Were I on a jury for this they’d lose even though I think Armstrong is a douche bag.
It’s a civil suit. USPS wants its money back.
Besides, he is from the hated state of Texas, and likely a gun owner. Might have voted for Bush as well, did go bike riding with him.
Just peachy. Some doofus does steroids, states legalize weed, and the mooslims blowus up. Priorities?
Excellent summary
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