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Posted 5-13-08
New Indictment
Against Bonds Unsealed
San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Federal prosecutors
have filed a new indictment against Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home
run king.
According to documents
released Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Bonds was charged
with 14 counts of lying to a grand jury and one count of obstruction that
he denied knowingly taking illegal performance - enhancing drugs.
In March, U.S. District
Judge Susan Illston delayed the case against Bonds so government lawyers
could correct technical flaws in the original indictment. At the time,
prosecutors hit Bonds with a five-count indictment -- four counts of perjury
and one for obstruction of justice -- after one of the longest federal
grand jury investigations in Northern California history involving the
Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).
However, Bonds' lawyers
contended that under law the indictment was deficient because the government
can accuse a person of only one crime per count of an indictment. Apparently,
too many allegations were compiled into too few counts of the original
indictment.
There are no new allegations
in the indictment revealed Tuesday, except that it breaks down the charges
ahead of the next hearing, scheduled for June 6.
Each of the counts
of lying carries a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and
up to three years of supervised release. Another count of obstruction
could mean a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
Bonds has been accused
of lying under oath to a federal grand jury during his testimony, given
under oath in December 2003. That is at the center of his November 15,
2007 indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice.
A seven-time MVP,
eight-time Gold Glove winner, 14-time All-Star and two-time batting champion,
Bonds owns seven single-season major league records, most notably a 73-home
run season in 2001 with the Giants.
Bonds' last years
in San Francisco were littered with controversy. In December 2004, the
San Francisco Chronicle first reported Bonds used a clear substance and
a cream given to him by trainer Greg Anderson during the 2003 baseball
season.
Bonds, who is a free
agent, currently stands at 762 home runs, with a career average of .298
in 22 seasons with Pittsburgh and San Francisco. He was released by the
Giants during the offseason.
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