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| Barry Bonds |
Just three months ago,
Barry Bonds was rejoicing his 756th homerun
—giving him the all time record
—but now it seems that, like Olympic track star
Marion Jones, his record will be permanently tarnished. This week, Bonds was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, accused of lying about using performance-enhancing drugs.
Like Jones, who last month plead guilty to lying to investigators during the BALCO steroid investigation, Bonds has been a key figure because of his high profile career.
Earlier this year Bonds beat the previous home run record set by
Hank Aaron, which many baseball fans and commentators felt was an injustice since Bonds was involved with the steroids scandal.
After his record-breaking season, the San Francisco Giants did not renew Bonds and he was expected to be a free agent for next season.
His troubles on the field, however, are only compounded by his ongoing situation with federal investigators.
During a federal inquiry in 2003, Bonds told investigators that his coach and personal trainer
Greg Anderson had never supplied him with steroids, and that he had never been injected with steroids.
The indictment charged Bonds with lying about his involvement with the drugs and about receiving them from Anderson.
Bond’s attorney
John Burris told ABC News he was surprised by the indictment, but explained “there's been an effort to get Barry for a long time. "I'm curious what evidence they have now they didn't have before."
Investigators say they have positive drug tests that show Bonds did have anabolic steroids in his system during game play and say they have eye witness testimony from other key players.
If convicted, Bonds could receive a fine and up to 30 years in prison.
