4 Accused of Supplying Illegal Drugs to Athletes

Torn documents rooted from trash cans and surreptitious e-mails referring to substances called “The Cream” and “The Clear” -- it is evidence seemingly better suited to an espionage case.

But this was the world of sports, and Thursday, federal prosecutors announced charges against four men accused of conspiring to distribute performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of professional football and baseball players and Olympic athletes.

The indictment named a prominent track coach and the personal trainer for San Francisco Giant slugger Barry Bonds. Also charged were two executives from Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO, a small company near San Francisco that billed itself as a supplier of nutritional supplements.

The 42 criminal counts and an accompanying affidavit, rich in detail, lacked one vital element: the identities of the athletes who allegedly received steroids and other substances. Officials did not say why their names were not included in the documents but stressed that additional indictments are possible.

Those names were of particular interest because, during a long investigation, sports celebrities such as Bonds, sprinter Marion Jones and boxer Shane Mosley had been called to testify before a grand jury in San Francisco.

Still, sports officials hailed Thursday’s announcement by U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft as a historic moment in the fight against doping in sport.

“Who’d have thought six months ago that you would see the attorney general of the United States waving a 42-count indictment?” asked Dick Pound, a longtime Olympic official from Canada and head of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The indictment comes at a time of great focus on athletes’ use of steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.

Five world-class track athletes and four Oakland Raider players tested positive in recent months for a newly discovered steroid called tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG.

Major League Baseball recently announced a tougher enforcement policy after more than 5% of random tests conducted on players last season turned up positive for steroid use. Even retired tennis champion John McEnroe said he unknowingly took steroids given to him by doctors during his playing days.

In his State of the Union address last month, President Bush called for sports officials to “get rid of steroids now.”

“Illegal steroid use calls into question not only the integrity of the athletes who use them but the integrity of the sports they play,” Ashcroft said at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

“These drugs are bad for sports, bad for the players and bad for the young people who look to athletes as role models.”

Authorities said they launched their investigation 18 months ago after noticing suspicious cash transactions by BALCO founder and President Victor Conte Jr.

Conte, named in the indictment with company Vice President James J. Valente, has denied any wrongdoing.

“We’ve expected it,” his attorney, Troy Ellerman, told Associated Press on Thursday. “It’s no secret they were going to indict him.”

The indicted track coach, Remi Korchemny, could not be reached for comment. A call to the attorney for Greg F. Anderson, Bonds’ trainer, was not returned.

Investigators alleged that in addition to making legal supplements, BALCO distributed THG, which researchers discovered last summer and suspect was designed to avoid detection.

Korchemny and Anderson came under suspicion because of their association with BALCO. Prosecutors alleged that they purchased THG and other drugs from the lab, then passed these substances to athletes.

Korchemny served as coach for American sprinter Kelli White and British sprinter Dwain Chambers, both of whom flunked drug tests in 2003.

After a period of surveillance, which included digging through trash cans, federal and local agents raided BALCO’s office in Burlingame, Calif., and Anderson’s nearby condominium last fall.

These raids reportedly produced evidence of performance-enhancing drugs and the names of athletes using them. According to the indictment, nearly $64,000 in cash was found at Anderson’s home.

Prosecutors allege that on six occasions from December 2001 to September 2003, the four defendants distributed the anabolic steroid testosterone to recipients that included a professional football player, a professional baseball player and a track-and-field athlete.

Documents also described investigators watching an unnamed athlete emerge from BALCO with his pant leg rolled up as if he had just received an injection.

On 16 occasions from April 2001 to July 2003, the defendants allegedly distributed other steroids, human growth hormone, erythropoietin and modafinil.

With the exception of the steroid THG, these substances were originally developed to treat illnesses.

The sports world took notice of them because they were found to help athletes run faster and train harder.

However, medical authorities warn that improper use of such substances can pose long-term health risks.

Also, because they are controlled substances, their distribution is governed by law.

Sports officials have been testing for performance-enhancing drugs for decades, with varied commitment and success.

According to the indictment, the defendants distributed one substance -- “The Cream” -- that combined a steroid with a cream in an attempt to conceal an athlete’s elevated testosterone level from drug testing.

The defendants allegedly referred to THG as “The Clear” and told athletes that it would provide “steroid-like” effects without triggering a positive result.

In an e-mail described by investigators, Conte allegedly told a coach to refer to drugs only by their initials and to “remember that all e-mails are saved for a very long time, so be careful about how you say what you say. Searches for keywords like ‘anabolic’ and many others are going on at all times by big brother.”

The defendants allegedly used false names on mailing labels and provided athletes with cover stories to tell authorities.

In addition to charges of conspiracy to distribute steroids, they are accused of misbranding drugs.

Conte, Valente and Anderson were also charged with possession with intention to distribute human growth hormone and laundering their profits through personal bank accounts.

Bonds’ attorney, Michael Rains, said his client was saddened by the indictment of longtime friend Anderson.

Rains said that Bonds did not know about illegal activity by Anderson or BALCO, whose supplements he praised in a magazine article last summer.

Rains reiterated an earlier contention that the 39-year-old Bonds had never knowingly taken steroids.

He dismissed speculation that Bonds cheated while hitting 73 home runs in 2001 to break one of baseball’s most hallowed records.

“If people want to talk, they’re going to talk,” the attorney said. “Barry is going to do what he has always done ... he’s going to play baseball.”

Yet for all the attention that has swirled around Bonds and BALCO, several anti-doping experts said the charges against Korchemny might prove most significant.

In an interview with The Times last year, the coach denied any knowledge of illegal substances coming out of BALCO.

“I respect what [Conte] has done for sports and for athletes,” Korchemny said. “Even today when everyone is against him, I still continue to go to the lab and get products I believe help athletes recover.”

But whether Korchemny is convicted or not, experts said, the charges against him mark a shift in the anti-doping effort.

“Until now, when there is a positive test, they go after the athlete,” said Steven Ungerleider, whose book “Faust’s Gold” chronicled the state-sponsored doping of East German athletes a generation ago.

“Now there is a very strong message going out -- we’re also going to look very carefully at coaches and doctors and trainers, the family around the athlete.”

Though no athletes were named Thursday, and at least some of those who testified before the grand jury were granted limited immunity, Ashcroft did not rule out legal action against anyone.

“We do not want to signal in any way that we are closing the book,” he said.

Times staff writer Richard B. Schmitt contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.