SAN FRANCISCO, 27 June 2004 — A federal judge ordered an investigation into the leaking of Tim Montgomery’s grand jury statement to a newspaper here Friday while delayed action on other motions in the BALCO Labs steroid trial.
Judge Susan Illston told both sides in the case that she was concerned about media reports involving the case, specifically the San Francisco Chronicle’s publication of comments from Montgomery in Thursday’s editions.
Montgomery’s grand jury statement was to have been seen only by the prosecution and defense. The newspaper did not reveal the source of the grand jury testimony.
According to the newspaper, Montgomery admitted taking human growth hormones and “the clear”, a substance obtained from Victor Conte, the BALCO owner who is among four men charged with running an illegal steroid distribution ring.
Conte, a BALCO associate, athletics coach Remy Korchemny and Greg Anderson, a personal trainer for baseball star Barry Bonds, have all pleaded not guilty.
Montgomery, the 100-meter world-record holder, could face a lifetime ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) despite the fact he has never tested positive for drugs.
A hearing was scheduled for July 16 to review findings in the investigation and consider motions from both sides in the case.
Illston ordered prosecutors to conduct an internal search over the next three weeks for the source of leaks of protected documents to the media, leaks that have kept the BALCO case in the news for months.
Jeff Nedrow, the assistant US Attorney prosecuting the case, insisted the leaks did not come from the government and called the leaks a “serious criminal matter.”
“The only parties that got the (grand jury) transcript are standing in front of you,” Nedrow said.
Tony Serra, Anderson’s attorney, said the leaks have come from the prosecutor’s office and that prosecutors sought to “poison the jury pool” and convict his client in the media.
Serra, other defense attorneys and their clients agreed to submit sworn statements to judge Illston saying they did not release any information regarding the case to the media.
Conte’s attorney, Robert Holley, said the leaks doom any hope of a fair trial in the case.
Meanwhile, Victor Conte denied claims that he supplied baseball star Barry Bonds with steroids and had no regard for the health of clients.
Conte was upset at Thursday’s San Francisco Chronicle report citing grand jury testimony from 100-meter world record-holder Tim Montgomery saying Conte told him he gave Bonds steroids.
“I would like to let the world know I have never given anabolic steroids or any other performance enhancing drug to Barry Bonds,” Conte said. “In fact I have never even had a discussion about anabolic steroids with Barry Bonds.”
The report said Conte told Montgomery in 2000 or 2001 that he supplied Bonds the steroid Winstrol, also known as Stanozolol. That was the substance for which Canada’s Ben Johnson tested positive at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The Chronicle also had Montgomery saying that Conte told him that he would provide some substances to athletes without regard for the performer’s health.
“I do very much care about the health of the athletes that I work with,” Conte said. “The very reason that we do the comprehensive blood testing on the athletes is to ensure their excellent overall health.”
