BAMAPHIN 22
FinHeaven Elite
Barry Bonds and Steve Hoskins were boyhood friends who went into business together and made a lot of money selling autographs of the San Francisco Giants slugger. But the relationship collapsed when Bonds accused Hoskins of stealing from him and took the case to federal prosecutors.
Now, the Redwood City businessman may be getting his revenge by talking to investigators about Bonds' alleged steroid use and the alleged diversion of proceeds from memorabilia sales to Bonds' girlfriends.
A grand jury considering possible perjury charges against Bonds met again Thursday in San Francisco, and Bonds' lawyer, Michael Rains, has identified Hoskins and the player's former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, as key witnesses in the probe.
Hoskins' lawyer, Michael Cardoza, declined to say Thursday whether his client had testified before the grand jury, but he discussed the falling out between his client and Bonds and said Hoskins believes the slugger's angry outbursts at the time were caused by steroids.
"It appeared he was in a sort of steroid rage, the way he was acting," Cardoza said. "That's what we thought was causing him to act that way."
Steroid allegations surrounding Bonds intensified in 2003 when he testified before a different federal grand jury about his relationship to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the nutritional supplement lab at the center of doping scandals in both track and field and baseball.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/07/13/bc.bbo.bonds.steroids.ap/index.html
Now, the Redwood City businessman may be getting his revenge by talking to investigators about Bonds' alleged steroid use and the alleged diversion of proceeds from memorabilia sales to Bonds' girlfriends.
A grand jury considering possible perjury charges against Bonds met again Thursday in San Francisco, and Bonds' lawyer, Michael Rains, has identified Hoskins and the player's former girlfriend, Kimberly Bell, as key witnesses in the probe.
Hoskins' lawyer, Michael Cardoza, declined to say Thursday whether his client had testified before the grand jury, but he discussed the falling out between his client and Bonds and said Hoskins believes the slugger's angry outbursts at the time were caused by steroids.
"It appeared he was in a sort of steroid rage, the way he was acting," Cardoza said. "That's what we thought was causing him to act that way."
Steroid allegations surrounding Bonds intensified in 2003 when he testified before a different federal grand jury about his relationship to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the nutritional supplement lab at the center of doping scandals in both track and field and baseball.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/07/13/bc.bbo.bonds.steroids.ap/index.html
