Production and supply of banned steroids to professional athletes
People from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) together with prominent athletes were convicted in relation to charges about production and distribution of undetectable, performance-enhancing, anabolic-androgenic steroids from late 1990s until 2003, and to associated money laundering. Athletic interests included track, field, baseball, football and boxing; a prominent athlete convicted was Belizean-American former world champion track and field athlete Marion Jones-Thompson (for not admitting to use of the steroid when investigated). Almost all sentences were 4-6 months in prison, some plus further house arrest; the longest sentence (2 and a half years in prison) was given to a lawyer who revealed Grand Jury testimony which identified some of the users.
