January 23, 2008

FORMER NFL ALL-PRO DANA STUBBLEFIELD PLEADS GUILTY TO MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS IN BALCO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Former Player Admits Using Illegal Performance-Enhancing Substances

SAN FRANCISCO– The United States Attorney’s Office announced that Dana Stubblefield pleaded guilty today to making false statements to federal investigators in the Balco steroids distribution investigation in the Northern District of California. This guilty plea is the result of an investigation by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

Mr. Stubblefield, 37, of San Jose, California, was charged in an information filed on January 3, 2008 and unsealed today in federal court. He was charged with making a false statement to a government agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2).

Stubblefield played professional football in the National Football League (the “NFL”) between 1993 and 2003. Stubblefield played for the San Francisco 49ers, the Washington Redskins, and the Oakland Raiders during his career.

In pleading guilty, Stubblefield admitted that in 2003, while a member of the Oakland Raiders, he began working with Victor Conte, the owner and operator of Balco Laboratories, in Burlingame, California.

As part of the plea agreement, Stubblefield admitted the following facts:

Stubblefield stated that Conte provided him with vitamins and dietary supplements. In addition to these items, Conte provided Stubblefield with a clear liquid which he referred to as “the clear.” Conte explained to Stubblefield that the “clear” was an undetectable steroid-like substance which would assist him in recovery. At Conte’s direction, Stubblefield took “the clear” orally. Conte told Stubblefield to put “the clear” under his tongue for a few seconds and then swallow. Stubblefield admitted that he consumed this substance several times throughout the summer of 2003 as he worked out in preparation for the 2003 NFL season. At the time Stubblefield took the clear, he knew that it was a performance-enhancing substance.

Conte also provided Stubblefield with a drug called erythropoietein, or “EPO.” Conte explained to Stubblefield that “EPO” was an injectable drug which would provide Stubblefield with greater endurance in his off-season workouts. Conte further informed Stubblefield that the NFL did not test for “EPO.” At Conte’s direction, Stubblefield received injections of EPO on several occasions in the summer of 2003 as a part of his preparations for the 2003 NFL season. As with the clear, at the time Stubblefield took EPO, he knew that it was a performance-enhancing substance.

Conte told Stubblefield not to tell anyone about the fact that he had given Stubblefield “the clear” and “EPO.” Stubblefield stopped using both of these substances in September 2003, after he became aware that Balco had been searched by federal agents investigating Conte’s illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs from Balco.

On November 13, 2003, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent Jeff Novitzky questioned Stubblefield in the presence of his attorney as a part of the Balco investigation.

Agent Novitzky asked Stubblefield about “the clear,” which Stubblefield understood to refer to the substance given to him by Conte. Agent Novitzky asked Stubblefield if he had ever seen this substance before and whether he had ever ingested the substance. Stubblefield told him that he had never seen the substance and had never ingested it. Agent Novitzky similarly asked Stubblefield about erythropoietin, or “EPO,” and asked Stubblefield if he was familiar with that substance and if he had ever received an injection of it. Stubblefield told Agent Novitzky that he didn’t know anything about the substance, and that he had never been injected with it. Stubblefield further told Agent Novitzky that he had not received either of these substances from Victor Conte. All three of these statements were lies, as Stubblefield knew at the time he was making these statements that Victor Conte had given him the “clear” and injected him with “EPO” in 2003.

The sentencing of Mr. Stubblefield is scheduled for April 25, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. before the Hon. Susan Illston in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty for the violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2) is five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Matt Parrella, Jeff Nedrow, and Jeff Finigan, the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case stated, “The government’s ability to investigate criminal conduct, unobstructed by lies and misdirection, is fundamental to our legal system. Accordingly, individuals who choose lie to federal agents and interfere with this essential evidence gathering process will be vigorously prosecuted."

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.