Former Oriole, Miguel Tejada — who has been under investigation by the government for a while — has now been charged with lying to Congressional investigators about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. It’s looking like an ugly side of the game may be exposed this spring with the Bonds trial, Clemens, the whole A-Rod saga, and now this…
From the Washington Post: Federal prosecutors accused Tejada of making misrepresentations to Congressional staffers during an interview in a Baltimore hotel room focusing on the prevalence of steroids in the game.
The charge came in “a criminal information,” a document that can only be filed with the defendant’s consent and usually signals a plea deal is near. Tejada, who now plays for the Houston Astros, is scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Washington, court officials said.
Prosecutors did not charge Tejada with lying about allegations concerning his own steroids use.
Instead, they accuse Tejada of giving false statements to Congressional staffers about his conversations with another player about steroids and human growth hormone.
That player, who was not named in court papers, is identifiable as Adam Piatt. They played together on the Oakland Athletics in 2003, and prosecutors allege that Tejada purchased human growth hormone from him that year. They do not accuse Tejada of using the substance or lying about his use of it, however.
Tejada faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail, but advisory sentencing guidelines call for a sentence of probation to six months behind bars.
I just don’t know what to think anymore. The news about Tejada was not any surprise; however, I have a feeling we are going to find a lot more about the underbelly of the game before the kickoff to the 2009 season…
