Montgomery...named in the trial against Trevor Graham. - AP
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
An admitted doping dealer testified yesterday that he provided Marion Jones with a three-drug cocktail of banned substances to boost her bid to win five medals at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
Angel 'Memo' Heredia said he mailed the oxygen-boosting EPO, growth hormone and insulin to Jones at the behest of her, then, coach Trevor Graham, who faces charges of lying to government agents about his relationship with Heredia. Graham has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Sold drugs
Heredia testified for the second day at Graham's trial that, at the coach's behest, he also sold banned substances to Olympic gold medal sprinters Antonio Pettigrew, Jerome Young, Tim Montgomery and Dennis Mitchell. Elite runners Ramon Clay, Duane Ross and Garfield Ellenwood were also customers, Heredia said.
Heredia said he counselled Graham against allowing Jones to combine the three drugs he had mailed to her into a single injection in the weeks before the Sydney games. Jones won the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600-meter relay. She also earned a bronze in the 400-meter relay and the long jump.
"The main point for her was to make the team in the 400 event in order to win a fifth medal," Heredia said. "He wanted to have everything untraceable."
Mexican connection
Heredia testified on Tuesday that he had obtained a litany of performance-enhancing drugs from Mexico and sent them directly to the athletes or to Graham to distribute. Heredia testified that several of the athletes met him in Mexico, but conceded he wrongly testified earlier to a grand jury that he met Graham in Mexico.
"It has been 12, 13 years since this happened, and I can't remember every detail," he said.
Yet, Heredia was able to recall with great detail the origins of several wire receipts issued almost eight years ago. He testified, for instance, that two July 2000 receipts, for a combined US$1,000, were for growth hormone and EPO sales to Pettigrew.
Athletes to testify
Heredia has yet to be cross-examined by Graham's lawyer. Several of Graham's former athletes were also expected to testify against him during the two-week trial.
Graham is the second figure arising from the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, or BALCO, doping scandal to face trial. A federal jury earlier found former elite cyclist, Tammy Thomas, guilty of lying to a federal grand jury when she denied doping.
In addition, eight others - including BALCO founder Victor Conte and Jones - have pleaded guilty to various charges of drug dealing and lying to government investigators. Jones is serving a six-month prison sentence, and Montgomery was recently sentenced to four years, after pleading guilty to writing fraudulent checks. He also faces heroin distribution charges.
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