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| Barry Bonds |
District Judge Susan Illston ordered Bonds, 47, 30 days house arrest, two years probation and 250 hours of community service after being found guilty of lying in his statements to a jury that made the corresponding steps in the Doping scandal Balco laboratories.
The ruling will not take effect while performing the process of appeal, which has already started the defense of Barry, litigation that could last more than a year.
Thus Bonds, who got 762 homers as a pro to beat the mark of all time and who is the oldest player to win an MVP with 40 years and 4 months in 2004, avoid walking in jail.
The prosecution had asked for a sentence of 15 months in prison for the former player, however, Judge Illston did not consider the petition and the final sentence only increased by a fine of $ 4,000 after finding Bonds guilty to the charge of obstruction justice.
For its part, the assistant federal prosecutor Matthew Parrella, argued that 30 days of house arrest was not an exemplary punishment enough or Bonds. "For a person who has a mansion with all the amenities, do not think this is a kind of exemplary punishment and valid," he said.
The end of BALCO
The decision to Barry, who was elected to the All-Star Game 14 times and is a member of club 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases, closed criminal investigation the largest U.S. federal authorities have made towards doping in professional sports.
The inquiries began when a tax agent investigated in the trash the now defunct BALCO laboratory, located on the outskirts of San Francisco.
The country's government spent millions of U.S. dollars and countless hours of paperwork to get 11 people were found guilty in the process.
Six of them, including track star Marion Jones, were sentenced for lying to investigators juries, federal agents or the Court, so were sentenced to prison.
Five men, including Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to charges of distributing steroids, because of his ties with BALCO.
The investigation ignited a debate in American society, whether government intervention ultimately represented the best use of public resources.
But in the end the list of people involved and convicted was small.
