Miguel Tejada became the first high-profile player convicted of a crime stemming from Major League Baseball’s steroids era by pleading guilty in federal court on Wednesday to misleading Congress about doping.
Under a plea agreement with the same prosecutors pursuing a perjury indictment against pitching great Roger Clemens, Tejada admitted he withheld information about an ex-teammate’s use of steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) when questioned by a House committee’s investigators in August 2005.
Tejada also acknowledged he bought HGH while playing for the A’s, but said he threw the drugs away without using them. Prosecutors said they have no evidence to contradict that.
Later at a Houston press conference, Tejada fought back tears as he apologized for what he called a mistake. He did not take questions.
The misdemeanor can lead to as much as a year in jail. Federal guidelines call for a lighter sentence, and one of his lawyers Mark Tuohey said he expects Tejada to receive probation.
Federal Magistrate Judge Alan Kay set sentencing for March 26, during MLB spring training.
Kay asked more than once whether the Dominican Republic player understood this could affect his immigration status in the US. “Yes, your honor,” Tejada replied.
A letter sent by prosecutors to his attorneys last Friday outlining the terms of their plea deal said: “His guilty plea in this case may subject him to detention, deportation and other sanctions at the direction of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
Even after being chastised by Kay for merely nodding in response to questions, Tejada did not say much in Washington on Wednesday other than “Yes, your honor” or “No, your honor” during the 45-minute hearing.
Toward the end of the proceedings, when Tejada was asked how he wished to plea, his voice cracked as he replied: “Guilty.” One of his lawyers patted him on the shoulder.
The case stemmed from former Baltimore Orioles teammate Rafael Palmeiro failing a drug test in 2005 and being banned. Palmeiro said the positive test must have been caused by a tainted B-12 vitamin injection given to him by Tejada.
He told congressional staff “he had no knowledge of other players using or even talking about steroids or other banned substances,” court documents say.
But in the December 2007 Mitchell Report on drugs in MLB, Oakland outfielder Adam Piatt is cited saying he discussed steroid use with Tejada and provided Tejada with testosterone and HGH.
The report included copies of checks allegedly written by Tejada to Piatt in March 2003 for US$3,100 and US$3,200.
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
STUMBLE: World No. 2 Coco Gauff confidently won her first set against seventh-seed Italian Jasmine Paolini before being overcome in the second and third sets World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and second-ranked Coco Gauff were sent crashing out of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday, while Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals. Top seed and defending champion Sabalenka had no answer for Elena Rybakina, falling to the 2022 Wimbledon champion 6-1, 6-4. Reigning French Open champion Gauff had 16 double faults in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 exit at the hands of seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini. Spain’s second-ranked Alcaraz had his difficulties, but he broke Rublev in the final game of a tense duel to emerge a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 winner
Spanish champions Barcelona opened their Spanish La Liga campaign on Saturday with an island cruise as they played almost an hour against nine men on their way to a 3-0 victory in RCD Mallorca. Barcelona’s second-half stroll did not please coach Hansi Flick. “They’re three important points, but I didn’t like the match,” he told broadcaster Movistar. “After going two goals up and following Mallorca’s two red cards, I think the team only gave 50 percent, and I didn’t like that,” he said. “Playing at 50 or 60 per cent is not possible against nine players.” Two of Barcelona’s Ballon
Manchester City signaled their intent to take back the English Premier League title as Erling Haaland struck twice in a 4-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday to begin their campaign. After four consecutive titles, City finished a distant third last season as Pep Guardiola’s men failed to win any trophy for the first time in eight years. New signings Tijjani Reijnders, who was the star of the show at Molineux, and Rayan Cherki were also on target to give Guardiola hope his side would be back in the title race this season. “We knew he is a top signing
RSS