Home-Run King Barry Bonds Indicted in Federal Court on 15 Counts of Perjury & Obstruction of Justice

Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time leader in homeruns, was charged with 14 counts that he lied to a federal grand jury investigating the BALCO steroids scandal and one count of obstructing justice in a new indictment that was unsealed on May 13, 2008 in San Francisco. The new indictment was worked up by prosecutors at the request of U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who ordered a restatement of the charges against Bonds after his attorneys moved to have the case dismissed.

The new indictment contains no new transgressions, rather, it breaks down the charges of the original indictment into individual counts. The original indictment, which was unsealed in November 2007, contained four counts of perjury and one charge of obstruction of justice. In seeking the dismissal of the original indictment, Bonds lawyers pointed out to the judge that the indictment was flawed, as under federal law, an accused can only be charged with one crime per count. Each of the alleged lies is now an individual count of perjury.

On December 3, 2003, Barry Bonds testified before a federal grand jury investigating the manufacture and distribution of illegal performance-enhancing drugs by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. (BALCO). Federal prosecutors asked Bonds whether he had obtained illegal performance enhancing drugs such as steroids and human growth hormone from BALCO and from his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, who was linked to BALCO. Bonds denied ever knowingly having used illegal substances, including the "Cream," an undetectable steroid developed by BALCO.

The government alleges that Greg Anderson provided Barry Bond with BALCO's "Cream." BALCO has been at the center of American doping scandals since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Marion Jones recently pleaded guilty to having lied about her use of illegal performance enhancing drugs provided to her by BALCO and was incarcerated in federal prison.