Barry Bonds is now free of criminal charges after Tuesday’s breaking news.
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Back in April an 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Bonds’ conviction for obstruction of justice, which ended an 11 1/2 year battle in court for the former slugger.
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The prosecution decision not to appeal further means that Bonds is cleared of all charges.
Bonds was convicted and sentenced to 30 days of home confinement, two years of probation, 250 hours of community service in youth-related activities and a $4,000 fine after being convicted in 2011.
The prosecution of Bonds for obstruction of justice ended quietly with the Justice Department’s one-paragraph court filing announcing that its solicitor general would not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a lower court’s reversal of Bonds’ felony conviction.
The jury deadlocked on three counts accusing Bonds of making false statements when he denied receiving steroids or human growth hormone or any substance that required a syringe for self-injection from the trainer, Greg Anderson.
“The most one can say about this statement is that it was non-responsive and thereby impeded the investigation to a small degree by wasting the grand jury’s time and trying the prosecutors’ patience”, he wrote. The investigation netted a number of convictions and prison terms, including BALCO mastermind Victor Conte, but it appears the superstar considered the biggish fish got away in the end.
With that 10-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered an overwhelming blow to the government’s high-profile, oft-sidetracked case against the former San Francisco Giant, accused of lying to the grand jury about using steroids as he chased baseball’s home run records.
Despite that, he has not come close to being elected into the Hall of Fame due to his PED ties. Bonds didn’t dispute that he took steroids, but testified to the grand jury that Anderson told him they were flaxseed oil and arthritic balm.
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Bonds concluded his career in 2007 with 762 career home runs.
