Steroid charges against coach to proceed
Steroid charges against coach to proceed, By: Terence Chea
Aug 17, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO–A federal judge on Friday denied a motion to dismiss charges against Trevor Graham, the elite track coach indicted as part of a federal investigation into steroid use by athletes.
Graham was charged in November with three counts of making false statements to federal agents. The government accused him of lying in 2004 when he denied distributing steroids or telling his athletes where they could get them.
Graham's attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to dismiss the charges because Justice Department officials leaked information to the media. In court documents filed last month, they cited widely published reports by The Associated Press that Graham "was expected to be indicted." The stories ran the day before he was charged on Nov. 2.
Federal prosecutors argued the grand jury's deliberations weren't compromised by media leaks.
Illston declined to dismiss the charges and denied the defence's request for the disclosure of all grand jury testimony, but she ordered prosecutors to give Graham's attorneys a complete list of witnesses who said Graham helped them obtain performance-enhancing drugs.
Graham has pleaded not guilty to the perjury charges and was freed on $25,000 (U.S.) bond. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine if convicted. His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 24 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
Graham, who trained track stars Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, helped launch the government's steroid probe when he mailed a vial of a designer drug called "the clear" to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Prosecutors said Graham had been granted immunity for his co-operation in the probe, but the agreement didn't protect him from prosecution for making false statements.