Track coach Graham indicted in steroid scandal

11/03/06

Trevor Graham, the Jamaican-born American track coach, was indicted on three counts of making false statements in a sports doping scandal by a U.S. grand jury in San Francisco on Thursday.

Graham, who triggered off the scandal by anonymously sending authorities a syringe, has coached some of the world's top sprinters, including Sydney Olympic triple champion Marion Jones, former 100m world record holder Tim Montgomery and 2004 100m Athens Olympic champion Justin Gatlin.

Graham played a pivotal role in 2003 in unmasking a previously undetectable steroid by sending the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) a used syringe with small amounts of THG.

Thursday's indictment said Graham met with Internal Revenue Service agents in 2004 to discuss his and his athletes' involvement with the BALCO lab South of San Francisco, the center of the case and the main distribution outlet for the steroids.

Officials had given Graham immunity from prosecution for any crimes but not for making false statements.

"The charges allege that Graham intentionally lied to IRS-CI agents who were pursuing the original source of the illegal performance-enhancing drugs taken by many of the athletes tied to BALCO," U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said in a statement.

Graham is due to be arraigned on Nov. 16 and could face as much a five years in prison for each count if found guilty.