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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bonds’ stay in purgatory nears an end


Barry Bonds' days on diamond may be numbered.
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
David Kravets Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO – With the grand jury investigating Barry Bonds apparently nearing the end of its term, speculation has swirled around the possibility that one of the game’s greatest sluggers could be indicted for perjury or other crimes.

Last week, a federal judge who ordered Bonds’ personal trainer jailed for refusing to testify against the San Francisco Giants star said the grand jury’s probe into whether Bonds lied under oath about steroid use would end within weeks.

Bonds’ attorney, Michael Rains, has said that if the outfielder were to be indicted, it would come in July.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan declined to comment whether the investigation was near completion. That’s no surprise, a former top lieutenant to Ryan said Wednesday, because grand jury proceedings are a closely held secret.

“On the one hand, the grand jury is entitled to truthful witnesses and, on the other hand, the rules of secrecy must be observed,” said Jonathan Howden, the U.S. attorney’s former chief of organized crime and drug enforcement.

The investigation centers not on whether Bonds used steroids – which is not a crime – but on whether he lied under oath about using a performance-enhancing substance known as “the clear.”

A new grand jury was convened to consider perjury and possibly other charges against Bonds, and has been meeting in secret for several months. Witnesses known to have testified in the probe include Giants trainer Stan Conte and Bonds’ surgeon, Arthur Ting.

Rains has identified Bonds’ former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, and former friend Steve Hoskins as key witnesses in the probe.

Hoskins’ lawyer, Michael Cardoza, could not be reached for comment. Bell declined to comment when reached by the Associated Press.

Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson, is sitting in a Bay Area jail because he refused to testify against his childhood friend.

Lawyers involved in the case pointed to the government’s treatment of Anderson as evidence that Bonds could be in trouble.

“I think that he is going to be indicted,” said Brian Getz, who represented former world champion sprinter Michelle Collins when she testified two years ago in the BALCO probe. Collins was suspended for four years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and lost her 2003 world and U.S. indoor titles for using banned substances.

The case against Bonds arose from his 2003 testimony before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a nutritional supplement company exposed as the steroid supplier to top athletes.

Five men connected to BALCO pleaded guilty to steroid distribution and other charges. Anderson was one of them, and was handed a three-month prison sentence and three months of home confinement.

The BALCO grand jury took testimony from about two dozen athletes, including Bonds. Asked whether he had used the performance-enhancing drug known as “the clear, Bonds testified he thought Anderson had given him the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis.