U.S. cyclist found guilty of lying about steroids

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In a case that could foreshadow the perjury indictment against baseball's home run king Barry Bonds, a federal jury in San Francisco on Friday found a cyclist guilty of lying to a federal grand jury about past steroid use.

Tammy Thomas, a silver medalist in the sprint competition at the 2001 World Championships, was one of many professional athletes who either saw their careers end or had their reputations sullied in the wake of the BALCO steroid scandal.

She is the first person charged in the BALCO cases to go to trial. The head of the BALCO laboratory, Victor Conte, reached a plea deal and has already served his time in prison, as has Patrick Arnold, the Illinois-based chemist who prepared the doping drugs.

After the verdict, Thomas erupted in anger at a prosecutor as he walked out of the courtroom. "You're a crummy guy. Look me in the eye. You destroy lives," she said.

The prosecutor did not acknowledge Thomas.

Thomas testified before the BALCO grand jury in San Francisco in October 2003 and denied she had ever received any performance-enhancing drugs from Arnold -- who devised the previously undetectable THG steroid -- and said she had never used steroids.

She was charged with five counts of giving a false statement and one count of obstruction of justice. She was found guilty on three of the false statement counts and obstruction of justice.

The outcome should be of interest to Bonds, who broke the Major League Baseball career home run record last season and could also go to trial this year or next after he was also charged with lying to a grand jury.

BONDS ALSO PROTESTS INNOCENCE

Bonds, 43, has said he is innocent of the charges, but no team has signed him for the current season and his home for 15 years, the San Francisco Giants, have removed his once prominent image and references across their stadium.

At the Thomas trial, many of the figures key to the Bonds case testified, including Jeff Novitzky, the Internal Revenue Service investigator who has spearheaded the BALCO-related cases. The same prosecutors charging Bonds led the Thomas case, appearing before the same San Francisco federal judge who heard the BALCO cases and the Bonds indictment.

At the trial, prosecutors alleged Thomas hurt their case against chemist Arnold by not telling the truth, delaying his eventual conviction. Defense lawyer Ethan Balogh countered that Thomas obtained the substances from Arnold's girlfriend and that they were not banned at the time.

One witness, a drug-testing official, said he arrived at her apartment in 2002 after Thomas appeared to have been shaving hairs off her face. Photos from the time suggest a more masculine appearance than Thomas had in court.

In 2002, sports authorities banned Thomas from competing in cycling for the rest of her life after she tested positive for the prohibited substance norbolethone.

She is now enrolled to take classes at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, according to an official at the admissions office there.

Balogh said she would likely be sentenced in about six weeks.