Former Florida clinic owner gets four
years prison in baseball doping case
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[February 18, 2015]
By Zachary Fagenson
MIAMI (Reuters) - The owner of a Florida
clinic that supplied steroids to professional baseball players, putting
it at the center of a scandal that led to Major League Baseball star
Alex Rodriguez's suspension, was sentenced to four years in prison on
Tuesday.
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Anthony Bosch, 51, pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to
distribute testosterone and had sought leniency from a federal judge
due to his cooperation with federal and Major League Baseball
investigators.
But U.S. District Court Judge Darrin Gayles refused to give Bosch
less than the four years agreed to by prosecutors, describing the
owner of the now-defunct anti-aging Biogenesis clinic as the
mastermind of an operation that also supplied performance-enhancing
drugs to high school athletes.
"One can only imagine the horror of a parent who has unwittingly
taken a child to Mr. Bosch and watched as he used a syringe to
inject a controlled substance into their children," the judge said
during a hearing in the Southern District of Florida in Miami.
Bosch became a key witness for MLB, which has been paying his legal
and security bills after suspending more than a dozen players based
on information he provided.
Choking back tears, he apologized for putting lives in jeopardy.
"My choices were terrible and I'm ashamed of myself," he said.
Professional athletes paid Bosch as much as $12,000 per month for
testosterone-filled syringes and creams, federal officials have
said. He was also accused of selling performance-enhancing drugs to
high school athletes, charging between $250 and $600 per month,
according to an indictment.
Gayles said Bosch was under the influence of cocaine when he
committed his crime.
Bosch's cooperation with MLB investigators led to the suspensions of
Rodriguez; Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, who was the
National League’s most valuable player in 2011; Baltimore Orioles
outfielder Nelson Cruz; Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres and
Jhonny Peralta of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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None of the players have faced criminal charges.
Rodriguez apologized on Tuesday in a letter to fans for the mistakes
that led to his suspension. He has not appeared in a game since
Sept. 25, 2013.
Bosch also has served as a witness for the federal government in
prosecuting a handful of former associates from his former clinic.
His business partner, Alex Rodriguez's cousin Yuri Sucart, and five
others were charged in July indictments with crimes ranging from
distributing testosterone to conspiring to sell the club drug known
as "Molly."
Some have pleaded guilty. Former University of Miami pitching coach
Lazaro Collazo and Sucart are awaiting trials, at which Bosch is
expected to testify.
He will seek a reduced sentence after he testifies and completes a
drug rehabilitation program, his attorney Guy Lewis said on Tuesday.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Susan Heavey and Lisa Lambert)
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