atriage[_6_]
February 14th 12, 01:57 PM
On 06/02/2012 13:46, NoDannyNo wrote:
> On Feb 4, 4:17 am, "Don't Mess With Texas"<up-yo...@liberal-cock-
> suckers.com> wrote:
>> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
>> bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/04/SPGA1N303S.DTL
>>
>> Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of Lance
>> Armstrong on Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort to
>> determine whether the seven-time Tour de France winner and his
>> teammates participated in a doping program.
>>
>> Armstrong has steadfastly denied he doped during his
>> unparalleled career, but the possibility of criminal charges
>> threatened to stain his legacy as the world's greatest cyclist
>> and could have cast a shadow over his cancer charity work.
>>
>> "I am gratified to learn that the U.S. Attorney's Office is
>> closing its investigation," Armstrong said in a statement. "It
>> is the right decision and I commend them for reaching it. I look
>> forward to continuing my life as a father, a competitor, and an
>> advocate in the fight against cancer without this distraction."
>>
>> The probe, anchored in Los Angeles, where a grand jury was
>> presented evidence by federal prosecutors and heard testimony
>> from Armstrong's former teammates and associates, began with a
>> separate investigation of Rock Racing, a cycling team owned by
>> fashion entrepreneur Michael Ball.
>>
>> U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. announced in a news release that
>> his office "is closing an investigation into allegations of
>> federal criminal conduct by members and associates of a
>> professional bicycle racing team owned in part by Lance
>> Armstrong."
>>
>> He didn't disclose the reason for the decision, though Birotte
>> has used discretion in pursing high-profile criminal cases
>> before. Last February, his office closed an investigation of
>> mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp.
>>
>> The pronouncement comes after two less-than-successful cases
>> against top athletes accused of doping. Former Giants slugger
>> Barry Bonds was found guilty of obstruction of justice and
>> sentenced in December to 30 days' home detention - a conviction
>> he's appealing - but prosecutors were unable to convince a jury
>> that he lied about using steroids. Roger Clemens' steroids trial
>> is slated for April 17 after a judge declared a mistrial last
>> summer, ruling that prosecutors showed jurors inadmissible
>> evidence.
>>
>> Investigators looked at whether a doping program was established
>> for Armstrong's team while, at least part of the time, it
>> received government sponsorship from the U.S. Postal Service.
>> Authorities also examined whether Armstrong encouraged or
>> facilitated doping on the team.
>>
>> The hurdle for prosecutors wasn't so much to prove whether any
>> particular cyclist used drugs, but to determine if Armstrong and
>> other team members violated federal conspiracy, fraud or
>> racketeering laws. Unlike Bonds and Clemens, who testified
>> before a federal grand jury and Congress, respectively, and were
>> accused of lying under oath, Armstrong was not questioned in
>> front of the grand jury.
>>
>> Armstrong won the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005.
>>
>> Betsy Andreu, who with her husband and former Armstrong teammate
>> Frankie Andreu accused the cycling champion of doping, said she
>> was shocked by Birotte's decision.
>>
>> "Our legal system failed us," she said. "This is what happens
>> when you have a lot of money and you can buy attorneys who have
>> people in high places in the Department of Justice."
>>
>> Led by federal agent Jeff Novitzky, who also investigated Bonds
>> and Clemens, U.S. authorities sought assistance overseas,
>> requesting urine samples of U.S. Postal riders from France's
>> antidoping agency and also meeting with officials from Belgium,
>> Spain and Italy.
>>
>> The investigation began after Novitzky was told about a cache of
>> PEDs found by a landlord in the vacated apartment of Kyle
>> Leogrande, a cyclist who rode for Rock Racing and had a doping
>> ban, according to several people familiar with the case.
>
> THE LANCE is superhuman. He destroyed an entire army of doped-up
> cocksuckers in the TdF for 7 years on nothing but mineral water,
> croissants, and Peet's coffee. It took a cheating, dope-steak eating
> mother****er to finally take him down when he was nearly 40 years
> old.
Shirly he ate some Petits Pains au Chocolat too?
--
> On Feb 4, 4:17 am, "Don't Mess With Texas"<up-yo...@liberal-cock-
> suckers.com> wrote:
>> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-
>> bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/04/SPGA1N303S.DTL
>>
>> Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of Lance
>> Armstrong on Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort to
>> determine whether the seven-time Tour de France winner and his
>> teammates participated in a doping program.
>>
>> Armstrong has steadfastly denied he doped during his
>> unparalleled career, but the possibility of criminal charges
>> threatened to stain his legacy as the world's greatest cyclist
>> and could have cast a shadow over his cancer charity work.
>>
>> "I am gratified to learn that the U.S. Attorney's Office is
>> closing its investigation," Armstrong said in a statement. "It
>> is the right decision and I commend them for reaching it. I look
>> forward to continuing my life as a father, a competitor, and an
>> advocate in the fight against cancer without this distraction."
>>
>> The probe, anchored in Los Angeles, where a grand jury was
>> presented evidence by federal prosecutors and heard testimony
>> from Armstrong's former teammates and associates, began with a
>> separate investigation of Rock Racing, a cycling team owned by
>> fashion entrepreneur Michael Ball.
>>
>> U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. announced in a news release that
>> his office "is closing an investigation into allegations of
>> federal criminal conduct by members and associates of a
>> professional bicycle racing team owned in part by Lance
>> Armstrong."
>>
>> He didn't disclose the reason for the decision, though Birotte
>> has used discretion in pursing high-profile criminal cases
>> before. Last February, his office closed an investigation of
>> mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp.
>>
>> The pronouncement comes after two less-than-successful cases
>> against top athletes accused of doping. Former Giants slugger
>> Barry Bonds was found guilty of obstruction of justice and
>> sentenced in December to 30 days' home detention - a conviction
>> he's appealing - but prosecutors were unable to convince a jury
>> that he lied about using steroids. Roger Clemens' steroids trial
>> is slated for April 17 after a judge declared a mistrial last
>> summer, ruling that prosecutors showed jurors inadmissible
>> evidence.
>>
>> Investigators looked at whether a doping program was established
>> for Armstrong's team while, at least part of the time, it
>> received government sponsorship from the U.S. Postal Service.
>> Authorities also examined whether Armstrong encouraged or
>> facilitated doping on the team.
>>
>> The hurdle for prosecutors wasn't so much to prove whether any
>> particular cyclist used drugs, but to determine if Armstrong and
>> other team members violated federal conspiracy, fraud or
>> racketeering laws. Unlike Bonds and Clemens, who testified
>> before a federal grand jury and Congress, respectively, and were
>> accused of lying under oath, Armstrong was not questioned in
>> front of the grand jury.
>>
>> Armstrong won the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005.
>>
>> Betsy Andreu, who with her husband and former Armstrong teammate
>> Frankie Andreu accused the cycling champion of doping, said she
>> was shocked by Birotte's decision.
>>
>> "Our legal system failed us," she said. "This is what happens
>> when you have a lot of money and you can buy attorneys who have
>> people in high places in the Department of Justice."
>>
>> Led by federal agent Jeff Novitzky, who also investigated Bonds
>> and Clemens, U.S. authorities sought assistance overseas,
>> requesting urine samples of U.S. Postal riders from France's
>> antidoping agency and also meeting with officials from Belgium,
>> Spain and Italy.
>>
>> The investigation began after Novitzky was told about a cache of
>> PEDs found by a landlord in the vacated apartment of Kyle
>> Leogrande, a cyclist who rode for Rock Racing and had a doping
>> ban, according to several people familiar with the case.
>
> THE LANCE is superhuman. He destroyed an entire army of doped-up
> cocksuckers in the TdF for 7 years on nothing but mineral water,
> croissants, and Peet's coffee. It took a cheating, dope-steak eating
> mother****er to finally take him down when he was nearly 40 years
> old.
Shirly he ate some Petits Pains au Chocolat too?
--