Barry Bonds Could be Indicted

A New York Daily News report cites that Barry Bonds could be very close to an indictment. 

This is Carrie Stroup reporting for Sports911.com. 

The grand jury investigating Barry Bonds has been extended for another six months, several sources familiar with the government's case have told the Daily News, and the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco is confident it will have enough evidence to secure an indictment once it resumes in September.

"They seem to feel they have a strong case," said one source, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Another source said he believed prosecutors could secure an indictment if they sought one now, but that they would rather take the additional time to strengthen it. The grand jurors have not met for at least three weeks and have been instructed that they will not reconvene until September. Bonds is being investigated for perjury and tax evasion.

"If the case is 90% now, there's no reason not to go for 100%," the source said. "They aren't just waiting around for Greg Anderson."

Bonds was called before the original BALCO grand jury in 2003, and he testified that he had taken drugs identified as steroids, but did not know what they were at the time. Part of his testimony was overheard by a Daily News reporter, and the full extent of it was reported a year later by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Prosecutors opened a perjury investigation into Bonds, believing that he long knew what he was taking.

Bonds' former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, also testified that he had given her $80,000 in cash from memorabilia sales, income that may not have been declared. Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, has said he does not believe the government will indict, but recently conceded it might choose to proceed. A year ago, when Bonds' first grand jury was due to expire, Rains told him to expect an indictment, but the government moved to have its investigation into Bonds and other BALCO-related defendants shifted to another grand jury that was set to expire this month.

One fan writes in the Globe and Mail Editorial Section:

It is perhaps unfair that, with many players having used performance-enhancing substances in recent years, Mr. Bonds has been singled out. But while it has never been proven that he has used steroids, the allegations are pervasive. He has been closely linked to BALCO, the company at the centre of a U.S. steroids investigation. Alleged before a grand jury to have taken steroids, he defended himself by implying he had been duped into taking them. Most damning, perhaps, is the visual evidence: he no longer looks the way he did when he entered the league, having grown to the point that it has been alleged his hat and shoe sizes have changed.

Barry Bonds is believed to be within days of shattering Hank Aaron's home run record.  He currently sits at 753.

Sportsbook.com was still offering betting odds on when Barry Bonds will shatter the all time record.  The website had moved Barry Bonds betting odds temporarily Saturday morning following Bonds Friday night home run.

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Don Shapiro, Sports911.com

Originally published July 21, 2007 10:49 am ET