Trevor Graham, who coached convicted sprinter Marion Jones and other Olympic track champions tied to drugs, was sentenced to one year of home confinement for lying to federal agents about his contacts with a steroids supplier.
A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Graham in May of lying when he said his hadn't spoken to the supplier since 1997. Prosecutors said Graham had numerous contacts with the supplier from 1997 to 2004. Graham, 45, must also pay a fine of $5,000 and serve five years of probation.
Graham is the second defendant convicted for lying in a five-year-old federal steroids probe to escape a jail sentence in the last two weeks. Tammy Thomas, a former world-class cyclist, received six months' home confinement and probation on Oct. 10. Baseball player Barry Bonds faces trial in March for lying about steroids.
``I don't view sending Mr. Graham to prison as a useful exercise for this government at this time,'' said U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston at a hearing today in San Francisco. Illston sentenced Thomas Oct. 10.
Graham received a lifetime ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in July. The suspension prevents him from being involved in competitions or activities organized by the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Track & Field and other governing bodies.
Graham oversaw the athletic training of Olympic-level track stars including Jones, Antonio Pettigrew and Jerome Young. He worked with Angel Heredia, a shot putter from Texas who obtained drugs, to get them on a steroids regimen to improve their performances, prosecutors said at the trial.
Pettigrew, Young and sprinter Dennis Mitchell testified against Graham at the trial, saying Graham referred them to Heredia.
Illston said Graham deserved a tougher sentence than Thomas because testimony at trial showed Graham ``provided his athletes with steroids.'' She said it was ``heartbreaking'' that Graham steered the athletes towards drugs, which ruined their careers when they were caught.
The jury in May couldn't agree on whether Graham provided his athletes with performance-enhancing drugs, and federal prosecutors dropped those charges after a mistrial was declared.
Graham didn't deserve the 10 months in prison recommended by the government, Ilston said, because he helped investigators by sending a syringe containing steroids to anti-doping officials.
In 2003, Graham anonymously mailed a syringe containing a sample of tetrahydrogestrinone, known as THG or the Clear, a synthetic, once undetectable steroid, to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency officials. Graham's lawyer called his client the original ``whistleblower'' in the government's steroids probe.
Three months later, the government raided Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, a California lab whose owners were eventually charged with distributing steroids, in a federal probe of drugs in sports that led to charges against Graham and Bonds.
``We're obviously pleased that the judge sentenced Mr. Graham to probation,'' William Keane, Graham's attorney, said after the sentencing. Matt Parrella, Assistant U.S. Attorney, declined to comment.
Marion Jones served six months in prison for lying to federal investigators about using banned drugs and about her role in a counterfeit check-cashing scheme.
Bonds, charged with lying to investigators about whether he used steroids, is scheduled for trial March 2. The former San Francisco Giants outfielder, baseball's career home-run leader, has denied the charges.
The case is U.S. v. Trevor Graham, 06-725, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco.
