Home-run king indicted

Barry Bonds, baseball's No. 1 home-run hitter as well as its No.1 dilemma, was indicted yesterday on charges he lied to a federal grand jury investigating athletes' use of performance-enhancing drugs supplied by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco).

The long-anticipated indictment, unsealed in San Francisco, likely will trigger an earthquake in major league baseball, where speculation about steroid use among its elite stars has hovered like a dark cloud.

"While everyone in America is considered innocent until proven guilty," commissioner Bud Selig, who has empowered former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell to head a steroid probe, said in a statement, "I take this indictment very seriously and will follow its progress closely. It's important that the facts regarding steroid use in baseball be known."

Even the White House felt compelled to comment on the news that the 43-year-old superstar had been indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and four counts of perjury.

"The president is very disappointed to hear this," Bush administration spokesman Tony Fratto said. "As this case is now in the criminal justice system, we will refrain from any further specific comments about it. But clearly this is a sad day for baseball."

The indictment came after a four-year probe into alleged steroid distribution and money-laundering by Balco, the Burlingame, Calif., firm founded by Victor Conte.

Among other revelations, the indictment noted that Bonds had testified positive for steroids. He has never been identified by Major League Baseball as having done so.

During the investigation, "evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes," the indictment read.

Bonds is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Dec. 7. Bonds faces as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each perjury count and 10 years and a $250,000 fine on the obstruction charge, according to the indictment.

Shortly after the indictment was released, Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was ordered released after spending most of the last year in prison for refusing to testify against his longtime friend.