Watch 20/20 Friday the 3rd

[stryker]

Friday 10/9C

You've heard about the star athletes that use steroids. Now for the first time the man who said he handed out steroids to these star atheletes is ready to talk.

Straight from a commercial I just seen while I was watching football

[LuvMuhRoids]

cool, would love to hear what he has to say.

[RobbieH02879]

Cool,thanks for the heads up.

[zadok]

well i dont live in the US so i wont see it, but post the general gist of the program once youve seen it.

[Millard Baker]

Bright lights for Balco founder


http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...l/10300063.htm

CONTE READY TO TELL HIS SIDE ON ABC'S '20/20'

By Mark Emmons and Pete Carey

Mercury News


It appears that Victor Conte Jr. is ready for his close-up.

The man at the center of the biggest sports doping scandal in history is expected to tell his story on the ABC program ``20/20'' on Friday night -- a development that puzzled some legal experts.

The network began airing promos late last week claiming that an unnamed man who gave steroids to some of the world's greatest athletes is ready to talk. While Conte, the founder of Burlingame's Balco Laboratories, declined comment Monday, sources told the Mercury News that he was interviewed by ABC. An ABC spokeswoman declined comment.

The interview is expected to be included with a story on steroids in track and field. It's not clear what Conte has to say. A source familiar with the story said the network was still working on the piece.

It marks another odd twist in an already sensationalized case. Word of the TV special -- to air at 10 p.m. on Channel 7 -- comes ahead of a hearing Wednesday at which Conte's lawyers will attempt to have the criminal case thrown out based on claims of pre-trial publicity and governmental misconduct.

Guaranteed to be among the interested viewers will be federal prosecutors, as well as lawyers for such prominent athletes as Giants star Barry Bonds and sprinter Marion Jones, who have been linked to a case that has had reverberations throughout the sports world.

Jerrold Colton, a lawyer for banned sprinter Kelli White, said he believes the special would target Jones, who won five medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. White, from Union City, admitted in May that she used drugs from Balco.

``They're going to out Marion Jones that she lied to the grand jury,'' said Colton, who added that Conte also has given an in-depth interview to ESPN the Magazine, which, like ABC, is owned by the Walt Disney Company.

White, Colton said, is considering an offer to be interviewed for the program. But others have declined.

Dick Pound, the World Anti-Doping Agency chairman, said he turned down an interview request from ABC reporter Martin Bashir, who promised a ``big exposé'' on drugs. Howard Jacobs, the lawyer for 100-meter world-record holder Tim Montgomery, also said he declined Bashir's request to interview the sprinter.

Bashir, an English journalist best known for a controversial report about Michael Jackson, told Pound that the topics of questions included the scale of drug use worldwide, the efficacy of anti-doping measures, how confident WADA officials are at testing for new-generation drugs and the drug use during last summer's Athens Games.

Four men -- Conte, Balco executive Jim Valente, Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson and East Bay track coach Remi Korchemny -- were indicted this year on charges of distributing illegal drugs and laundering money.

Wednesday, lawyers for Conte and Valente plan to argue before U.S. District Judge Susan Illston that the charges should be dismissed because of investigator misconduct and ``government-generated'' pre-trial publicity. In court documents, they claim leaks of confidential information have ``made a fair trial practically impossible anywhere in the country.''

Prosecutors have denied the charges and say Conte and Valente have played ``a role in manufacturing'' the leaks.

Anna Ling, an attorney for Anderson, said she doesn't know what is in the ``20/20'' program and that her client did not participate. But she maintains that the reason this case has such a high profile is because of the prosecutors' attention-grabbing tactics.

``John Ashcroft went on TV nationwide announcing it,'' Ling said, referring to the February news conference where the attorney general revealed the indictments. ``They started the ball rolling. The defendants have to be able to defend themselves.''

But Peter Keane, a Golden Gate University Law School professor, said giving such an interview could compromise Conte's claim that he's a victim of unfair publicity.

``He's waived any objection that his case is in the public marketplace because he's put it out there himself,'' Keane said.

Brian Getz, the lawyer for banned sprinter Michelle Collins, said he was contacted by ``20/20` on Monday about being interviewed. He declined.

Bob Holley, a lawyer for Conte; Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Nedrow; and representatives for Jones all declined comment Monday.

Conte has made few public comments since Balco was raided by investigators in September 2003. Shortly after the raid, he issued an e-mail statement claiming that he was the target of ``jealous competitive coaches and athletes'' and that the public would soon find out that ``the world of track and field is a very dirty business.''

In June, his lawyers sent a letter to President Bush, offering Conte's help in cleaning up track and field in exchange for leniency in the case. The offer was not taken up.

Virtually silent publicly for months, Conte gave a brief interview to the Mercury News in late October. Conte denied providing steroids to Bonds, although an investigator's memorandum alleges that Conte confessed to giving drugs to 27 athletes, including Bonds and Jones.

[tonyton]

I wonder how much they are payin him....prob a pretty penny.

[thick]

i bet he is getting a huge payment

Originally Posted by tonyton

I wonder how much they are payin him....prob a pretty penny.

[tonyton]

Originally Posted by thick

i bet he is getting a huge payment

I would say about 2-4 hundred G

[Millard Baker]

Victor Conte is such a little shit! I used to be sympathetic to his situation (up until a few minutes ago). But now it appears he just wants to bring as many people down with him as he can!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

[Millard Baker]

20/20 transcript posted here:

http://forum.mesomorphosis.com/showp...6&postcount=11