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