Steroid Blog

A federal appeals court upheld the perjury convictions Thursday of champion cyclist Tammy Thomas, the first athlete charged with lying to a federal grand jury in the BALCO steroids investigation – the same charges now pending against former San Francisco Giants superstar Barry Bonds.

Thomas, who won a silver medal at the world cycling championships in 2001, was convicted of four felony charges based on her November 2003 grand jury testimony that she had never taken steroids. A federal judge in San Francisco sentenced her to six months of house arrest in 2008.

Bonds, baseball’s all-time home run leader, is awaiting trial in San Francisco on charges of lying to the same grand jury.

The panel was investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative’s distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. BALCO’s founder, Victor Conte, and four others later pleaded guilty to dealing steroids. Track coach Trevor Graham, track star Marion Jones and former 49ers and Raiders lineman Dana Stubblefield were convicted of lying to investigators looking into BALCO.

Thomas was banned from competitive cycling for life in 2002 after testing positive for steroids. Federal agents said her supplier was Patrick Arnold, an Illinois chemist who designed undetectable drugs that BALCO distributed to other athletes. Arnold pleaded guilty in 2006.

Thomas’ perjury convictions were based on her denials that she had ever gotten any products from Arnold except for one legal drug, that she had ever taken anything Arnold gave her, and that she had ever taken anabolic steroids.

In her appeal, her lawyer argued that her answers were all literally true. The products were actually supplied by Arnold’s girlfriend, Arnold never “gave” Thomas anything she didn’t pay for, and the drugs she took were not on the list of legally banned steroids when she took them, the defense said.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was unpersuaded. The court cited testimony that Thomas had contacted Arnold asking for steroids, and said the jury had been entitled to conclude that he “gave” – that is, supplied – her with substances that expert witnesses described as anabolic steroids.

Judge Jay Bybee wrote the 3-0 ruling. Thomas’ lawyer was unavailable for comment