Judge denies motion to dismiss charges against Trevor Graham
AP Saturday, August 18, 2007
GRAHAM ... was charged in November with three counts of making false statements to federal agents SAN FRANCISCO, USA (AP) - A federal judge yesterday denied a motion to dismiss charges against Trevor Graham, the elite athletics coach indicted as part of a federal investigation into doping by athletes.
Graham was charged in November with three counts of making false statements to federal agents. The government accused him of lying in 2004 when he denied distributing banned substances or telling his athletes where they could get them.
Graham's attorneys had asked US District Judge Susan Illston to dismiss the charges because US Justice Department officials secretly disclosed information to the news media. In court documents filed last month, they cited widely published reports by The Associated Press that Graham "was expected to be indicted". The stories ran the day before he was charged on November 2.
Federal prosecutors argued the grand jury's deliberations weren't compromised by media reports.
Illston declined to dismiss the charges and denied the defence's request for the disclosure of all grand jury testimony, but she ordered prosecutors to give Graham's attorneys a complete list of witnesses who said Graham helped them obtain performance-enhancing drugs.
Graham has pleaded not guilty to the perjury charges and was freed on a $25,000 bond. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine if convicted. His trial is scheduled to begin September 24 in the US District Court in San Francisco.
Graham, who trained athletics champions Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, helped launch the government's steroid probe when he mailed a vial of a designer drug called "the clear" to the US Anti-Doping Agency.
Prosecutors said Graham had been granted immunity for his cooperation in the probe, but the agreement didn't protect him from prosecution for making false statements.
