By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
PHOENIX -- Jason Grimsley's attorney said on Wednesday that his client was pressured by federal agents to lure other players into confidential conversations to find incriminating information about Giants slugger Barry Bonds, the Arizona Republic reported.
Grimsley declined to wear a wire so agents could record those conversations, and when he failed to cooperate, the agents leaked a sealed affidavit in which the former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher admitted taking steroids and amphetamines, said the attorney, Edward F. Novak, one of the top criminal attorneys in Arizona.
"It was a specific effort to target Bonds," Novak told the newspaper. "We were told that Jason's cooperation was necessary to their case."
Bonds is reportedly under investigation in San Francisco where a federal grand jury is taking testimony regarding whether Bonds perjured himself about his own use of steroids in 2003 when he appeared in front of another grand jury investigating accusations against the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).
Bonds was among a number of athletes called to testify with immunity. None were charged. Bonds' former personal trainer, Greg Anderson, was among five people who ultimately were indicted. Anderson pled guilty, as 40 of the 42 charges against him were dismissed. He served three months in jail and three months under house arrest.
Asked by reporters in San Francisco on Thursday night about the latest revelations, Bonds declined to comment.
Jeff Novitzky, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service special agent in charge of the four-year-old investigation into BALCO, said in his affidavit that Grimsley, a 39-year-old veteran who was in his 15th big-league season, received a package containing two kits of human growth hormone (HGH) worth $1,600 each via the U.S. Postal Service on April 19 at his Scottsdale, Ariz., home. The IRS had been awaiting delivery of the shipment of the substance and Grimsley surrendered the kits when presented with a search warrant on that date to avoid a more complete search of his home.
Novitzky was also part of the group of federal officers who raided BALCO's San Francisco Bay Area headquarters in September 2003 and interviewed Victor Conte, the firm's founder and president, immediately after that incursion.
On Wednesday, Grimsley asked for and was granted his release from the Diamondbacks, who signed him as a free agent this past offseason for $825,000, an amount he will be paid in full, said Grimsley's agent, Joe Bick.
In the affidavit, investigators said they interviewed Grimsley for two hours. During the interview, Grimsley also named other players who have used performance-enhancing drugs, which are illegal to obtain in the U.S. without a prescription. In at least 15 places on pages 12 and 13 of the document, names of the other players were blacked out.
He also told investigators that he had been using steroids since 2000 and was informed by an unnamed source that he had tested positive for steroid use in 2003, the first year Major League Baseball randomly tested for performance-enhancing drugs.
A week after the initial interview, Grimsley said through Novak that he no longer would cooperate, the document said. Novak told the Republic that the pitcher's home was raided and searched on Tuesday, hours before reports about his problems surfaced.
Novak told the Republic that his client had been coerced by the agents to originally cooperate.
"They specifically told him, 'Don't call a lawyer.' They let him know that if he didn't cooperate they basically would terrorize his family and come in with guns drawn and lights flashing," Novak said.
The U.S. Attorneys Office in the Northern District of California issued a statement responding to Novak's claims.
"We believe that this search and the investigative procedures involved were conducted in a highly legal and appropriate fashion," spokesman Luke Macaulay said.
The Republic reported that Novak said that investigators asked Grimsley if he knew anybody on the Giants who might confide in him about Bonds. Novak said Grimsley refused to cooperate.
"They specifically asked him about Bonds and Jason said he didn't know Bonds well and didn't know whether he did or didn't use drugs," Novak said.
Additionally, the newspaper reported that on Tuesday, while the agents were in a six-hour search of Grimsley's home, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Parrella called Novak and told him that his client should reconsider cooperating based on new evidence that was found. Grimsley declined.
"[Parrella] told us he had until 1 p.m., and if Jason didn't agree to cooperate by then, they'd release the affidavit to MLB and the media," Novak said.
Grimsley continued to refuse and by the time he arrived at Chase Field for Tuesday evening's game against the Phillies, the feds made good on their threat. The original Republic story broke at 6:17 p.m. and Grimsley was warming up in the bullpen during the first inning as Russ Ortiz struggled while word flashed among Diamondbacks executives. Grimsley never got into the game.
From the time of the initial raid on April 19 until that moment on Tuesday, Grimsley hadn't informed the Diamondbacks of what was transpiring, a Diamondbacks official said on Thursday.
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Originally Posted by Bear
