http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/05/01/cyclist-tammy-thomas-reacts-barry-bonds/26709399/Cyclist Tammy Thomas reacts to Barry Bonds decision
The Mississippi cyclist nabbed in one of the nation's biggest doping scandals cried foul this week after a federal appeals court overturned the conviction of former Major League Baseball star Barry Bonds.
Tammy Thomas, whose steroid-induced transformation from petite athlete to muscular hulk made headlines, said the judicial system acted unfairly by giving Bonds a pass while upholding her own 2008 conviction for perjury.
"He was the reason that investigation started," Thomas told The Clarion-Ledger on Friday, referring to Bonds' connection to the BALCO scandal. "I was hoping that he wouldn't get off the hook, but it's all about money. He had a dozen attorneys. I could only afford one."
The federal government launched its investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO, in 2002 after learning it supplied anabolic steroids to more than 20 professional athletes – athletes like Thomas, Bonds and Olympic track star Marion Jones and, all of whom were ultimately convicted.
But on April 22, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned Bonds 2011 felony conviction on obstruction of justice for allegedly lying during his grand jury testimony about steroid use. Thomas' own attempt to get her conviction tossed ended in failure, and she remains a felon to this day.
"Now my only chance is a pardon," said Thomas, who lives in Ridgeland and works as a personal trainer and public speaker.
Thomas wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Daily-News about the appeal's court decision and her belief Bonds bought his way out of a felony:
I was convicted, and it was devastating. I was branded a felon for life. I lost basic civil rights (the right to vote, the right to keep and bear arms). Forget law practice, it has been difficult even to just find housing. I've had a hard time finding a job, and because of that, I live in poverty.
And Bonds?
The biggest fish managed to wriggle off the hook of the BALCO prosecutors. … The jury was hung on Bonds' perjury counts, and convicted him on obstruction. But now it was 2011, and seemingly everyone — the judges, jury and the public — was tired of hearing about the government's prosecution of athletes. The Bonds legal team began the lengthy, expensive work of appealing his sentence, and last week they finally succeeded in getting it overturned.
Thomas admits she used steroids. She admits she lied under oath. She admits she messed up. But it's unfair, she said, that Bonds did the same thing and gets his conviction overturned while she's forced to suffer the lifelong consequences
NBC Hardball Talk blogger Craig Calceterra disagreed in his own post Friday:
The reason Bonds got off and Thomas did not was that the case against Thomas was substantially stronger. … No person who directly supplied drugs to Bonds testified. No witness could provide any direct evidence that Bonds lied under oath.
Now, I strongly suspect hedid lie under oath about knowingly taking PEDs, and if his trainer, Greg Anderson, had testified he'd likely be convicted. But in our legal system you have to have proof. The government had none, knew it, proceeded with the case anyway and that's why the jury found him not guilty. The one charge that remained — obstruction of justice — was entirely bogus given that no lie was legally established and the Court of Appeals properly overturned it.
Thomas doesn't see it that way, but she's not going to dwell on it. Since finishing her sentence in 2013, Thomas has tried to move on with her life. She's trying to use her own experience as a cautionary tale to others and provides ethics training and advice.
"I just want people to learn from my mistake," Thomas said. "I want to be able to help people. It's about decisions and poor choices, and we all make poor choices at times."
