Prosecutors Step Up Armstrong Probe
Investigators Subpoena Documents and a Witness in Bid to Prove the Tour de France Champion Used Banned Substances
By REED ALBERGOTTI And VANESSA O'CONNELL
Federal prosecutors handling an investigation into cheating in professional cycling have subpoenaed documents from an arbitration case that sought to prove that Lance Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.
The documents contain depositions from former teammates and associates of the seven-time Tour de France champion during a period when a promotions company was trying to prove that Mr. Armstrong employed banned drugs and practices—known as doping—during his cycling career.
Jeffrey Tillotson, the attorney who represented the company, SCA Promotions Inc., in the arbitration hearings, said it received a subpoena for the records on July 16. He is preparing to send the files to the federal prosecutors in Los Angeles who are handling the investigation, he said.
Mr. Armstrong has repeatedly denied doping allegations and has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Using performing-enhancing techniques in sports is generally not against the law in the U.S. But federal prosecutors could make the case that Mr. Armstrong defrauded investors by accepting sponsorship dollars with the understanding that he would not use the drugs, if they prove that he doped.
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The money quote:
"Prosecutors "aren't going to charge somebody with doping," said Mike Straubel, an attorney at the Valparaiso University Sports Law Clinic in Indiana, who represents athletes. "They are going to charge somebody with a secondary offense of fraud in some fashion—perjury or lying to a federal investigator."
It seems like at best so far they have a whole lot of innuendo. A bunch of one on one conversations that may or may not have taken place. I guess eventually they can gather enough smoke to convince a jury there was a fire at one point, but it is going to take a lot of work.
Frankly I’m totally indifferent to conversations that took place pre-cancer. Even if he doped then, that doesn’t prove that he was doping after. He came back with a much different body and outlook.
TRANSLATION: An ambitious prosecutor wishing to garner publicity for himself by going after celebrities can still get his name in the papers & burnish his CV even if in the end he only wins the mickey mouse tacked-on charges.
If you initiate an investigation not to seek justice for a crime committed, but to to trap somebody for lying to authorities during the investigation itself, you still get just as rich & famous as the attorneys who pursue suspects with the intent of actually proving that the very alleged crimes which precipitated the investigation did indeed occur.
Kinda makes ya feel all warm & fuzzy inside about our federal justice system, doesn't it?
Gee, it's just too darn bad Ironman doesn't have a fishing expedition component in its competition. Looks like Lance will be getting a lot of practice for that in before Hawaii if he does indeed decide to enter.