Feds Mic'd Up Pregnant Woman in Bonds Case
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Court documents show that Barry Bonds tested positive for three types of steroids, and his personal trainer once told his business manager in the Giants' clubhouse how he injected the slugger with performance-enhancing drugs "all over the place."
The Chronicle's legendary gumshoes Matier & Ross have the goods today on a bizarre effort by the FBI to dig up anecdotal evidence in building their case against Barry Bonds. Back in the 2006-2007 phase of this endless Bonds prosecution business, while his trainer Greg Anderson remained in jail for refusing to provide testimony, the feds wired up one of their pregnant agents to discuss all matters Barry with a personal trainer at a gym in Redwood City. A personal trainer who happens to be Greg Anderson's wife.
Whoa... is there a strategy by where the FBI consciously chooses pregnant women to wear a wire, thinking that if they're busted then their pregancy would leave them less prone to retribution? That whole idea seems morally scary but fascinating. I would totally go see movies about this.
Anderson's wife worked at the time as a trainer at Powerhouse Gym in Redwood City ( you can Yelp it -- they're pretty well-reviewed!), and a pregnant FBI agent wearing a wire signed on to train with her individually. She asked conversationally about Bonds and the steroid controversy. Presumably she did not mention at any point her involvement with the FBI and collecting evidence being used against Bonds and her husband. The bugging efforts did not result in any admissions helpful to prosecuting Bonds.
But Ms. Anderson, and her mother, were both given some serious heat by the IRS in order to compel Anderson to talk. The old approachable-nice-pregnant-patron-at-the-gym routine may have been used to acquire damaging information on Ms. Anderson and her mother in these tax proceedings. They still haven't produced a conviction on Bonds, but the feds have definitely given this case a thorough workout.
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Posted Friday, Jul 17, 2009 - 5:10 PM PST
