BARRY BONDS INDICTED FOR PERJURY ARISING FROM HIS TESTIMONY IN THE BALCO INVESTIGATION

Indictment also includes charge of Obstruction of Justice
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools, Special Agent in Charge Scott O’Briant of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and Special Agent in Charge Charlene Thornton of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Barry Lamar Bonds, age 43, of Beverly Hills, California, on Nov.15, 2007, with four counts of perjury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623(a), and one count of obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503(a).

Bonds is charged with knowingly and willfully making false material statements, regarding his use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances, while under oath during his testimony before the federal grand jury that was conducting the investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (“Balco”), and with obstructing justice in the same investigation. A copy of the indictment is attached to this press release.

The penalty for perjury is up to five years imprisonment and three years of supervised release. The penalty for obstruction of justice is up to ten years imprisonment and three years of supervised release. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Bonds is scheduled to make his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge James on Dec. 7, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. PST in San Francisco.

An indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Bonds must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Matt Parrella, Jeff Nedrow, and Jeff Finigan are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Wiretapping probe revived under Mukasey

Reuters

Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:34pm EST

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Michael Mukasey pledged to evenhandedly apply the U.S. Constitution on Wednesday as he takes over a Justice Department accused of trampling on civil liberties to fight terrorism under his predecessor.

Just days after Mukasey was confirmed by the Senate last week and began work, the Justice Department said it was proceeding with an investigation into a warrantless domestic wiretapping program launched by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks.

Many Democrats have called the program illegal and unconstitutional, and a federal court ruling against it was overturned on appeal. But Bush had stalled the department's probe by refusing to grant security clearances for investigators.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility told Congress on Tuesday that "we recently received the clearances and are now able to proceed."

A Democratic lawmaker who had called for the probe said its revival would help expose the true story of the secret program's development.

Vet Suicide Rate For One Year Exceeds Iraq and Afghanistan Death Tolls

MARTINEZ, Calif. (KCBS) -- Returning U.S. war veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide as non-veterans, according to a CBS News investigation.

The study compares the total number of military suicides in 2005, whether the servicemen were deployed or not, to the cumulative death toll from Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. The number of suicides that year is greater than the total number of deaths from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Top veteran services officials in Contra Costa and at the Palo Alto V.A. questioned the statistic, but noted that veterans who return home from combat often avoid seeking help for the psychological issues they may confront as they readjust to daily life.