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Prison looms if Bonds? trainer refuses grand jury?s subpoena

Prison looms if Bonds? trainer refuses grand jury?s subpoena

ANDERSON
Barry Bonds? personal trainer arrived at federal court Thursday to appear before the grand jury investigating the baseball star for perjury and tax evasion. Greg Anderson later was brought before a judge who could order him jailed if he refuses to cooperate.

Anderson?s lawyers had said the trainer had no intention of testifying in the case against the San Francisco Giants slugger and was prepared for his third prison stay in less than a year.

Anderson declined to comment as he entered the grand jury room just before 9 a.m. with attorney Matthew Geragos. The two again declined comment when they emerged about 90 minutes later and entered a nearby courtroom for a closed-door hearing before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

Matthew Geragos and his brother, Mark Geragos, are representing Anderson.

It was not immediately clear what the hearing was about or whether Anderson had made good on his threat to remain silent.

Anderson was released from prison last week on the same day prosecutors announced a grand jury investigating Bonds had expired without issuing an indictment. A new grand jury quickly was assembled, and Anderson received what was believed to be the first subpoena ? ordering him to appear before the panel Thursday.

Authorities are investigating whether Bonds lied under oath when he told an earlier grand jury he didn?t know whether the substances given to him by Anderson were steroids. The probe also reportedly is focused on whether Bonds paid taxes on the sale of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sports memorabilia.

Bonds? attorney, Michael Rains, says his client is guilty of nothing more than being famous.

?They?re harassing Greg Anderson to get to Barry,? Rains said.

Anderson previously served three months after pleading guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering stemming from the government?s investigation of the Bay Area lab that allegedly supplied Bonds and other elite athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.

Some legal experts see Anderson as the key to proving the perjury allegations, since Bonds reportedly testified that the trainer gave him two substances that fit the description of ?the cream? and ?the clear? ? two performance-enhancing drugs linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

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