Barry Bonds Gets No "Get Out of Prison Free" Card
Federal prosecutors want to send Barry Bonds to prison, according to court records. The federal prosecutors objected to a recommendation by a probation officer that Mr. Bonds only get probation when he's sentenced next Friday on December 16, 2011. Federal prosecutors want Barry Bonds to serve 15 months in prison.
Barry Bonds, now 47, was convicted by a jury in April of obstructing a grand jury's sports doping investigation with an evasive answer. Prosecutors withdrew three other counts charging Mr. Bonds with making false statements after the jury could not make a decision on those charges. Those charges accused Mr. Bonds of lying to the grand jury when he denied knowingly taking performance enhancing drugs. He said he only allowed doctors to inject him.
The sentencing guidelines for the federal conviction on the obstruction charge recommend a prison sentence between 15 and 21 months. However, the probation department cited Mr Bonds' “history of charitable, civic and prior good works” as a major reason for a lessor sentence.
According to his lawyers, the probation officer noted that Mr. Bond's conviction is an “aberration” in his life. Moreover, his lawyers say that other sports figures convicted of similar charges all avoided prison. For example, Tammy Thomas, Trevor Graham and Dana Stubblefield were all convicted of various charges and all were sentenced to probation of one form or another.
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