Clemens Indicted

Clemens pleads not guilty

Former pitcher will stand trial in federal court starting April 5 on charges of lying to Congress.

August 31, 2010|Kim Geiger

WASHINGTON — More than two years after Roger Clemens told Congress that he had never taken steroids or human growth hormone, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to charges that he lied about the alleged doping.

Clemens uttered only one phrase to U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton: "Not guilty, Your Honor." He had arrived at the courthouse more than four hours before his 2 p.m. arraignment. Walton set a trial date of April 5.

The charges stem from a 2007 report on doping in baseball that alleged Clemens had used anabolic steroids on multiple occasions in 1998, 2000 and 2001, and human growth hormone on multiple occasions in 2000.

Clemens repeatedly told lawmakers and congressional staff that the allegations in the report were false. On Aug. 19, he was indicted on three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

The indictment does not offer specific proof that Clemens used the banned drugs but alleges that he lied to Congress when he rebutted the claims of others who said he had used the substances. Federal prosecutors said Monday that they have agreed to provide the defense with a 34-page master index of evidence, computer disks and "scientific evidence."

Clemens, 48, pitched for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Houston Astros. In 23 seasons, he was an 11-time All-Star who had 354 victories, 4,672 strikeouts and a 3.12 earned-run average. His statistics would make him a cinch for the Hall of Fame when he is eligible in 2013, but a conviction related to the steroid scandal would cast doubt on his accomplishments.

If convicted, he faces up to a $1.5-million fine and 30 years in prison, though under federal sentencing guidelines he is more likely to face a sentence of 15 to 21 months.

A status hearing on the defense's review of the evidence was set for Dec. 8, with a preliminary hearing on the case scheduled for March 28.

Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds has been charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a federal grand jury when he testified in 2003 that he had never knowingly used steroids. His trial is scheduled to begin March 21.

The allegations in the report were based largely on statements from Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee, who cooperated with investigators in exchange for assurance that he would not be prosecuted. McNamee also produced needles, gauze pads and syringes that he said were used to inject Clemens.

In February 2008, Clemens repeatedly denied the allegations in sworn testimony at a public hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and in a deposition with congressional staff. In both instances, he testified voluntarily.

"Let me be clear," Clemens said at the hearing. "I have never taken steroids or HGH."

Clemens was offered a plea deal before his indictment was handed down, but he declined the offer.

"I never took HGH or steroids," he wrote in a Twitter message hours after the indictment was made public. "And I did not lie to Congress."

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kim.geiger@latimes.com

Schilling sticks it to Clemens

He says pitcher should lose the last four of his seven Cy Young Awards.

By Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 20, 2007

Curt Schilling challenged Roger Clemens to come out from behind his prepared statement, calling on Clemens to surrender the final four Cy Young Awards he has won unless he obtains a retraction for his citation in the Mitchell Report as a user of steroids and human growth hormone.

In a scathing indictment of several of the biggest names in the game, the outspoken Boston Red Sox pitcher Wednesday urged baseball to strip Clemens of his statistics and records over the past decade unless he can refute the Mitchell Report, called the career of Jose Canseco a drug-aided "sham" and "hoax" and expressed concern for the sport that Clemens and Barry Bonds each has yet to clear himself amid evidence each used performance-enhancing substances.

"What does that say about this game, us as athletes and the future of the sport and our place in it?" Schilling wrote on his blog, 38pitches.com. "The greatest pitcher and greatest hitter of all time are currently both being implicated, one is being prosecuted, for events surrounding and involving the use of performance-enhancing drugs."

The Mitchell Report cites Clemens for using steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 to 2001, starting after he joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997. Clemens has won the Cy Young Award a record seven times, including in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2004.

On Tuesday, Clemens issued a statement denying he had used performance-enhancing drugs "at any time in my baseball career or, in fact, my entire life." On Wednesday, Schilling said Clemens must back his denial by retaining lawyers to obtain a retraction and public apology so his name can be "completely cleared."

"If he doesn't do that," Schilling said, "then there aren't many options as a fan for me other than to believe his career 192 wins and three Cy Youngs he won prior to 1997 were the end. From that point on the numbers were attained through using [performance-enhancing drugs]. . . .

"The four Cy Youngs should go to the rightful winners and the numbers should go away if he cannot refute the accusations."

The Baseball Writers Assn. of America administers the Cy Young Award -- and baseball's other major awards -- and BBWAA President Bob Dutton said he was unaware of any such precedent.

"We didn't take anything away from [Pete] Rose when he was banned from baseball," Dutton said. "If Roger said he didn't want them, I don't know what we'd do."

Clemens is far from the only award winner named in the Mitchell Report. Eric Gagne won a Cy Young Award, and the most-valuable-player winners include Canseco, Miguel Tejada, Jason Giambi, Mo Vaughn and Ken Caminiti.

The runners-up would not necessarily be free of suspicion. Canseco edged Wally Joyner for the 1986 American League rookie of the year award; Joyner admitted in the Mitchell Report that he used steroids later in his career.

Schilling saluted Canseco for shattering the code of silence on steroids in baseball but rebuked him for building his career upon them.

"He never belonged in the big leagues and anything he ever did in the major leagues is a hoax," Schilling said. "He made it clear that he would not have been the player he was had he not cheated. His statistics should be erased, his MVP given to the runner up and he should go down as the guy who broke the silence on a horrible period of the game, period."

Schilling credited the players who had admitted to drug use cited in the report, including backup catcher Gary Bennett, signed by the Dodgers on Monday.

"Gary Bennett is a guy who I always respected because I never figured him as a guy that would be able to play as long as he has," Schilling said. "He was always a hard worker and a nice guy and I always enjoyed throwing to him because he cared about his game calling skills.

"He's made a nice career for himself and my hope is that it was more through his hard work and effort than through cheating, either way he's a friend of mine and always will be."

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

America: The Land of the Drugged

With the story breaking last week about the trainer ratting out all of the players doing steroids, I thought it was time to revisit an article I wrote back in 2005.


National Pastimes, Steroids and Media Circuses

Last week congress was engaged in one of its favorite past times; grandstanding. A congressional panel heard testimony from current and former professional baseball players including Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. The biggest buzz-making item to come out of the testimony was Mark McGwire’s refusal to answer the question of whether or not he had taken steroids. His unwillingness to answer the question has fueled speculation that he was in fact taking steroids while chasing Maris’ home run record and his reputation has predictably suffered as a result.

Several observations can be drawn from the hearings that really illustrate the sort of illusory world that Americans live in today. To begin with, the whole circus sideshow was instigated by a book written by former slugger Jose Canseco. Canseco outs a number of player, including McGwire, as taking steroids when he was still in the game. Not surprisingly, Canseco has become the target of much condemnation from managers, owners and players alike, one of which is Curt Schilling.

Schilling has been an outspoken critic of steroids for a number of years; even implying in the past that steroid use in baseball is “rampant”. In last Thursday’s testimony Schilling called Canseco, whose book corroborates Schillings views on steroids, a liar. This is the conundrum that the issue of drugs creates in United States. When an outspoken critic of steroid use brands the one person who openly admits to using steroids as a liar, we begin to see the quandary this issue causes.

The issue, in a broader sense, isn’t solely about steroids; it is about American’s acceptance of certain drugs and their opposition to others. It is a kind of built-in hypocrisy that seems to come with being an American. McGwire’s public conscience wrestling seemed to show a man who was not desirous of being a liar, while struggling with the knowledge that if he did tell the truth, he would be branded a cheat; a dilemma seemingly not shared by his contemporaries. However, the worst hypocrites in this spectacle are the shameless congress members pretending to be the protectors of old-fashioned American values while at the same time accepting enormous amounts of money from the pharmaceutical industry, an industry that shamelessly advertises their drugs even after many are known to be harmful to people’s health.

Americans are bombarded daily with advertisements from the pharmaceutical companies that encourage all manner of drugs to enhance their performance. You cannot watch television for more than ten minutes without being subjected to commercials hocking male sexual arousal pills, like Viagra and Cialis. Schools across the country have become defacto pharmacies dispensing drugs likes Ritalin and adderall to our nation’s children to enhance their concentration. Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac and Zoloft, just to name a few, are now household words. These are all drugs, we are told, that supposedly enhance the quality of our lives and all of these drugs have the full backing and support of the government and Congress especially.

The message that is being sent is clear, it is not only proper to ingest drugs to enhance performance but it is absolutely encouraged. However, when it comes to athletes using drugs to enhance their performance we are supposed to be incredulous that they would even entertain such an idea. What absurdity! Why on earth would anyone be shocked by the revelation that athletes use steroids? Drug use is ingrained in our culture, it is inescapable. We are the most medicated society on earth and yet we still feign outrage that athletes use steroids.

These are classic symptoms of the American psyche’s need to present itself as steadfastly moral while at the same time giving a wink and a nod to behavior we supposedly don’t tolerate. This is America’s real, national past time