Toronto physician Anthony Galea who has been linked to high-profile athletes in the U.S. agreed to plead guilty to one count of transporting unapproved drugs across the Canadian-U.S.border.

Dr. Galea, who has been linked to Tiger Woods and New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez was indicted on five counts and according to the New York Daily News, four of those charges were eliminated because he didn’t force authorities to go through the time and expense of trying his case.

As part of the deal, Dr. Galea has agreed to forfeit about $300,000 that he accumulated during visits with clients in their homes, offices or hotel rooms in the U.S. During the hearing the doctor’s attorney told the court that most of the $800,000 in fees his client made was used to compensate him for time away from his medical practice in Canada.

Galea is scheduled to be sentenced in October and under federal guidelines he could receive up to 24 months in prison. According to lead U.S. Attorney Paul J. Campana, the feds will consider a shorter jail stint based on the extent of Galea’s cooperation throughout this investigation.

Back in September 2009, Galea’s employee Mary Ann Catalano was caught carrying HGH and other drugs during a trip into the U.S. She then lied to authorities regarding the purpose of her trip then later admitted she was going to assist Dr. Galea treat a patient.

Galea has no license to practice medicine in the United States but is accused of treating more than a dozen athletes here. Since this plea deal doesn’t include admissions to treating patients with HGH for any other banned substances, yesterday’s court news is considered a victory for Woods, A-Rod and others on the doctor’s list. In addition to those two, Dr. Galea’s roster of patients included NFL players Takeo Spikes and Jamal Lewis and MLB players Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran of the N.Y. Mets.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

With NBA stars flirting with the opportunity to play in China during the NBA lockout, the action may be interpreted as a middle-finger in the face of NBA owners. On the other hand, the league may actually benefit from sales of licensed merchandise as well as an expense-free test market for their product in the world’s most over-populated country.

The Los Angeles Times and the New York Daily News reported that the L.A. Lakers Kobe Bryant has shown interest in playing on teams that would compete in exhibition games in Shanghai with Armare Stoudemire.

There has been other speculation that players of less caliber (and salary) have talked about crashing the party of teams overseas to make a living if the lockout extends into the regular season. These guys may not have the nest eggs that Kobe or Amare do so it’s a little more understandable.

Although Bryant and Stoudemire are probably not in dire need, they love competition and as business people they may be looking for life after their careers in the NBA are done. In fact Kobe bought a half-interest in a basketball team in Italy and has mentioned relocating his family there in the future. He also inked a deal with Mercedes Benz to be the face for the Smart car ads in China.

Bryant is approaching 33 years of age and his next season will be his 16^th in the NBA.

Loyalty is not a word that fits during labor riffs at times. Sometimes it’s every businessman for himself but it’s hard to imagine the NBA doesn’t love the idea of showcasing its brand in China without having to pay the overhead.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed by Roger Clemens. The former fastballer and his lawyers had filed their case in friendly Texas despite the fact former trainer Brian McNamee was accused of uttering slanderous statements in New York. First the appellate court ruled that Clemen’s case couldn’t be brought to Texas federal court and now the Supreme Court has refused to listen to Clemens’ case.

On the other end of the battle, McNamee still has a live case against Clemens for defamation and is expected to be the nail in the pitcher’s coffin in an upcoming trial that is focused on alleged false statements Clemens made while under oath several years ago.

Bad news for Clemens, shown in his mugshot here, is not unusual since his ill-fated appearance in that 2008 hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when he denied ever being injected with HGH by McNamee. Clemens was not credible in the eyes of members of the committee so federal prosecutors were asked to investigate to see if perjury or obstruction of justice charges were justified.

Two years after that debacle, a grand jury indicted him and suddenly one of the most dominating hurlers to ever take the mound in MLB will go to trial next week in Washington, D.C.

Refresher: Clemens indicted, where did he go wrong?

Expected to testify against Clemens will be McNamee and Andy Pettite whose testimony was determined to be critical to McNamee’s believability. Refresher: Pettite could be nail in Clemens coffin.

It was Pettite’s statements when read to Roger that elicited the now famous utterance that Pettite must have “misremembered” when he implicated Clemens. Pettite also admitted being injected by McNamee.

Clemens caused much of his mess when he went on the offensive after the Mitchell Report named him as a user of performance enhancing drugs; a charge supported by multiple credible witnesses who cooperated with the report.

After appearing on the national magazine show “60 Minutes” and telling his side of the story, he demanded to be heard and welcomed being a witness in Congress.

Looks like he got that wish and more.

Visit Sports Climax and my national column at Examiner.com to stay updated on Clemens’ upcoming trial.

Used with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Uncertainty about what would happen with the L.A. Dodgers in court did not deter the team’s performance on the field earlier this week. The team responded with a 15-0 win; a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in the history of the team, whether located in Los Angeles or Brooklyn.

In that historic game, every starting player finished with at least one hit, one run scored and one RBI while pounding the Twins’ pitchers for 25 hits over nine innings.

In another victory, Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt won round one in his bankruptcy action despite protests by MLB when a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware gave McCourt permission, on a temporary basis only,  to go forward with his interim financing plans.

Under the plan, McCourt will borrow $150 million from private financiers, $60 million of which is expected to be funneled to the Dodgers’ owner. This move will allow the club to meet financial obligations including player payroll and commitments for deferred salary to former Dodgers Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones and other players no longer on the roster.

Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times reported that MLB’s alternate financing plan for the Dodgers proposed to the judge will get its own hearing in three weeks. Until that time McCourt can pull off getting the initial $60 million at 10% interest with a fee that had been proposed at $4.5 million. Today’s ruling by the bankruptcy court reduces that amount to about $250,000.

MLB filed its objection to McCourt seeking bankruptcy relief and announced its willingness to fund the Dodgers during the bankruptcy proceedings, to avoid the necessity of McCourt going outside the league for any funds. MLB has said the plan they propose carries no fee and has a lower rate of interest at 7%.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Plaxico Burress was released from prison into the daylight hours this morning in New York City experiencing his first day of freedom in nearly two years. Burress is expected to go to Florida to be with his family then get ready to put a game plan together for his return to the NFL.

There’s no doubt the wide receiver will be playing football in the NFL; it’s only what jersey colors he will don that is open at the moment…in addition to that little matter of getting past Roger Goodell too.

The former N.Y. Giants wideout with a Super Bowl winning catch under his belt served two months shy of his 2 year sentence for pleading guilty in August 2009 to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. Here’s a refresher on that plea deal here: Burress cops plea after rolling the dice with grand jury.

The story is worn out about the unregistered firearm carried in his pants into a nightclub that discharged, injuring only Burress. We debated what we learned about the fear pro athletes have of crimes aimed at them and their willingness to take the burden of protecting themselves.

Burress was one of the league’s best receivers prior to this incident destroying years of his life. Will anyone want to hire him again now that he is two years older and spent two years away from the game?

If Michael Vick had at least one suitor and team willing to take a chance on his skills and promise of good behavior, hiring Burress is a no-brainer as well. Although the Giants had nagging issues with him that related to clubhouse rules that under coach Tom Coughlin were strict, that should no longer be a problem if Burress were to use Vick’s success as an inspiration.

Vick is said to be in touch with Burress and may well serve as a mentor at some capacity. Drew Rosenhaus, Plaxico’s agent, recently said that multiple clubs are interested in the 6-ft 5 playmaker and why not?

Unlike Vick, who needed a year back in the league to get his QB rhythm in gear and learn the Andy Reid playbook, Burress should be capable of running patterns soon which is not as difficult. Being a team’s second or even third receiver and being targeted 10 times a game is a far cry from being the center of the offensive scheme like Vick was on every offensive play.

So Plax is back, as the N.Y. tabloids said. Here’s hoping he makes the best of his second chance opportunity to play in the NFL.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

While Bryan Stow has yet to be responsive other than minor movements and occasionally opening his eyes, Los Angeles celebrated when a suspect in the beating case had been apprehended.

The suspect, Giovanni Ramirez, is an ex-con whose arrest was being credited to a tip from a parole officer. Ramirez was cuffed and taken in for questioning over the weekend after the SWAT team surrounded his apartment in Hollywood.

Later, the two-time offender was booked on an assault with a deadly weapon charge.

Because of the emotional nature of the public reaction many wanted to close the book on the bust and declare him guilty. However, one person who didn’t identified himself as the suspect’s cousin and called an ESPN radio affiliate in L.A.

The man pleaded his cousin’s case on the air and pointed out circumstantial facts that he believed demonstrated innocence. He wasn’t at Dodger Stadium that night said the cousin. When he wasn’t countering arguments by the radio hosts, he was accusing the authorities of framing Ramirez, based on an artist’s sketch that in truth didn’t distinguish him from many young Latino men in L.A.

“He has a past but he’s not a person who would beat up a fan like that. He wouldn’t beat up a Giants fan…he’s not a baseball fanatic or a Dodgers fanatic.”

The cousin also said: “He’s not a member of a gang that I know of. He was always calm, very respectful. Cops try to frame you.”

Rebutting that claim, authorities have called the suspect a known gang member.

A two-time offender, Ramirez is in jeopardy of being incarcerated without parole after three-strikes if he is found guilty.

In the meantime, the cousin he hasn’t spoken to Ramirez since his arrest and with bail set at $1 million it doesn’t appear the Ramirez family will be seeing him on the streets any time soon.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Earlier this week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that the injunction granted against the NFL owners’ lockout of players is stayed on a permanent basis, until the legality of the lockout is determined.

On a 2-1 split vote, the judges voted in favor of overturning Judge Susan Nelson’s grant of an injunction against the lockout. The stay had recently been put back two weeks ago on a temporary basis until this full review of the issue was made by the three judges.

In overturning Judge Nelson’s decision to enjoin the lockout the two judges in favor had two theories. The first involves whether the league would suffer damage if forced to do business while there was no CBA in place while the second was a shot at Nelson’s authority to originally grant the injunction.

Regarding the issue of damage to the owners:

“[Nelson] gave little weight to the harm caused to the league by an injunction issued in the midst of an ongoing dispute over terms and conditions of employment.”

The court found irreparable harm to the players because the lockout prevents free agents from negotiating contracts with any team, but gave no weight to harm that would be caused to the NFL by player transactions that would occur only with an injunction against the lockout.

With respect to the lack of authority by Judge Nelson to issue the injunction, the majority said, “The district court reasoned that this case does not involve or grow out of a labor dispute because the players no longer are represented by a union. We have considerable doubt about this interpretation … [the Norris-La Guardia Act] does not specify that the employees must be members of a union for the case to involve or grow out of a labor dispute.”

There is a pending court date set for June 3 for the owners and players to argue the legalities of the lockout but until then it remains in effect until a decision is rendered by the same Eighth Circuit Court.

In the meantime, mandated mediation began on Monday in an effort to negotiate a new CBA. The parties (as of Monday) were making enough progress for ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio to report that a revised proposal may be given to the players.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

In the middle of the 3^rd and 4^th rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft an announcement was made regarding the latest legal twist in the labor strife between NFL players and the owners. The announcement…a federal appeals court told the NFL it could have a short stay of Judge Susan Nelson’s mandate that earlier forced owners to unlock their facilities for the players.

This ruling is only temporary and the owners might lose again once the judges look at Nelson’s 89-page written decision this week. Nelson had determined that irreparable harm was inevitable if the owners prohibited the players from their trade as the antitrust lawsuit was grinding through the long process.

The owners had pleaded with Nelson to consider their plight while the lawsuit was proceeding apace. In opposition to the players request for the injunction the owners claimed forcing them to do business without a new CBA in place would jeopardize their ability to set workplace rules without subjecting them to more legal action. Any rules set up that ticked off the players might result in them filing lawsuits and causing massive confusion. Judge Nelson rejected these arguments and to the delight of football fans and the players, the lockout was lifted Monday.

On Friday, however, the appeals court granted the owners a temporary stay from complying with the injunction order while they take more time to ponder it. It’s likely we’ll know within days if the injunction is upheld or rejected.

BTW, after Monday’s original ruling, owners were slow to comply by allowing regular operations to resume on Tuesday with some clubs refusing to allow access to players for workouts or rehab treatments. Other teams opened for business but only saw a few players show up. Detroit Lions player rep Kyle Vanden Bosch asked his players to stay away from the facility until this appeals process went through to avoid confusion. That said, after Friday afternoon’s news the NFL was quick to chase players out the door.

Commissioner Goodell was booed loudly when he took the podium to kick off the draft proceedings on Thursday night with fans chanting “We want football”. Goodell replied, “I hear you.”

Hopefully Goodell hears loud and clear because the only way football will be played is if the two sides get back to the bargaining table and come to terms on a new CBA.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Major League Baseball announced that Frank McCourt has been relieved of his day-to-day duties and financial management of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the league will take over from here.

This move comes a week after McCourt took a loan from the Fox regional sports network in Los Angeles in the amount of $30 million. Fox, the Dodgers’ broadcast rights partner, is said to have granted the loan to cover payroll and day-to-day expenses for the team for month of April. It was unclear if dipping into the well of Fox would be a regular routine in the coming months so the league moved in.

In a statement to the Associated Press Commissioner Selig said:

“The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future. I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the Club, its great fans and all of Major League Baseball.”

It is no secret that Frank McCourt has financial worries. It all came out in the wash during his nasty divorce trial of 2010 and revealed he and his ex-wife Jamie went through cash like drunken sailors while using the Dodgers as their personal piggy bank.

Like many homeowners in today’s economy, the McCourts overextended themselves, raiding the equity of the Dodgers to fund their lavish lifestyles. When Frank was faced with paying his soon-to-be ex-wife up to half the value of the team, he couldn’t scare it up while his lenders dried up because of his insufficient cash position in the Dodgers and other assets.

Jamie McCourt claims she co-owns the Dodgers and Frank needs to buy her portion out. His attempt at closing that argument got squashed in court when the judge decided the team’s ownership was indeed owned by both spouses.

The revelations about how the Dodgers’ revenue was used by the McCourts and Frank’s desperate attempts to gather the money to buy Jamie out had been monitored by MLB. With the news of the bridge loan from Fox, the final straw appears to have broken the league’s back.

Add this to the embarrassment and disgrace of the Opening Day attack against a San Fran Giant fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot that led to the revelations about why there so little security in place.

More Dodgers: Dodgers owner faces public, finally after attack on Giants fan at Dodger Stadium

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Barry Bonds’ criminal trial in San Francisco came to a close when a jury of eight women and four men found the slugger guilty of the one count of obstruction of justice but were deadlocked on the three remaining counts of perjury.

Jurors were interviewed afterward by ESPN legal analyst Mark Fainaru-Wada and gave their reason for the guilty verdict. They said they believed the totality of Bonds’ testimony before the 2003 grand jury was evasive and evasiveness amounted to criminal obstruction of justice.

They cited one example specifically; when the player was asked a direct question about injections and instead of answering the question he rambled about how difficult it was to be a “celebrity child” of Bobby Bonds and be friends with Greg Anderson’s.

To prove criminal obstruction, the government had to show that his lies impaired their ability to investigate BALCO Labs distribution and sale of illegal steroids. The jury bought the argument that overall, Bonds’ refusal or inability to give straight forward answers added up to criminal obstruction.

Jurors also offered information about why they were deadlocked on the three perjury counts. One count charged that he lied when he said he didn’t know what he was taking when given the designer steroids called Cream and Clear. Jurors deadlocked at 8-4 for acquittal on that charge.

During this trial, Bonds’ defense team did such a good job during cross-examination of the main prosecution witnesses that jurors didn’t believe they were credible even if no other witnesses contradicted their testimony. This resulted in the group convicting him on only one count out of four, after more than three days of deliberations.

One witness, Kathy Hoskins, Bonds’ former personal assistant testified that she saw Greg Anderson inject Bonds in his home, prior to a road trip but didn’t know what was in the syringe.

One of the perjury counts claimed that Bonds lied when he said no one other than his personal physician ever injected him with anything. Hoskins was not contradicted by any other witness or evidence but one of the jurors deadlocked the panel from convicting him on that charge. After court was adjourned for the day, jurors revealed that 9 of 10 in the jury room voted to convict but the lone holdout said she did not trust Kathy Hoskins.

Why not?

Because she is the sister of Steve Hoskins, the ex-business partner of Bonds who was accused of embezzlement during the time they worked together. Hoskins was another prosecution witness the defense destroyed under cross-examination after the prosecution called Dr. Arthur Ting to the stand. Ting was Bonds’ orthopedic surgeon who was supposed to support Hoskins’ testimony that he and Ting spoke at least 50 times about Bonds, steroids and the connection between the illegal substances and Bonds’ elbow injury in 1999.

Ting contradicted all of Hoskins’ claims, shocking the prosecution who felt he betrayed them. The defense was instructive in taking Ting through all of Hoskins’ accusations and deconstructed almost every one, leading the jury to believe Hoskins was not a credible witness.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC