Bosch Pleads Guilty In A-Rod, MLB Doping Scandal
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MIAMI (AP) — The man at the center of the investigation involving a former Coral Gables clinic which reportedly sold banned steroids to Major League Baseball players pleaded guilty on Thursday.
After entering his plea, U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles asked Anthony Bosch if he was indeed guilty.
Bosch replied "yes."
Bosch, who operated the now defunct Biogenesis Clinic, reportedly admitted to selling up to 5,000 units of testosterone to New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and other professional and high school ballplayers. Fourteen MLB players were suspended, including a season-long suspension for Rodriguez.
Under terms of the plea agreement, Bosch is reportedly facing up to 10 years in prison.
"Today's guilty plea by the founder of Biogenesis of America, Anthony Bosch, is a victory for our community as it demonstrates his willingness to accept responsibility for illegally administering testosterone and other dangerous substances to our community's high school athletes and others, said U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer in a statement. "The message is clear: cheating doesn't pay and individuals like Bosch, who distribute performance enhancing drugs to athletes and, more importantly, to our children, will be held accountable for their actions."
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Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles revoked Bosch's bail and ordered him to return to jail after he tested positive for cocaine twice in August.
Bosch and six other people who allegedly made up his supply and distribution network were indicted in the MLB doping scandal investigation.
Among the others charged were Alex Rodriguez's cousin Yuri Sucart, Carlos Javier Acevedo of Miami; Jorge Augustine Velazquez of Miami; Christopher Benjamin Engroba of Miami; Lazaro Daniel Collazo of Hialeah and Juan Carlos Nuñez of Fort Lauderdale.
Sucart was banned from the Yankees clubhouse, charter flights, bus and other team-related activities by Major League Baseball in 2009 after Rodriguez admitted he used steroids while with Texas from 2000 to 2003, saying Sucart obtained and injected the drugs for him.
Collazo is a former pitching coach for the universities of Miami, Louisville and South Florida who has also worked as a private instructor with numerous high school, college and professional pitchers. His University of Miami biography says he worked with Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer during his 1991 comeback attempt, seven years after Palmer's retirement.
So far no athletes have been charged as part of the investigation. Professional athletes reportedly paid up to $12,000 a month for the drugs provided by Biogenesis, while high schoolers paid up to $600 a month. All Bosch's clients were promised that the substances would not be found through drug testing, according to prosecutors.
The scandal broke in January 2013 when the Miami New Times published an expose that detailed how Bosch, through his unlicensed clinic, was secretly dealing steroids to ballplayers and other sports figures.
One of his employees, Porter Fischer, went to the newspaper with documents he had taken from the clinic, including client lists and the amounts they had paid for the drugs.
Fischer spoke to CBS4 Investigative Reporter Jim DeFede exclusively in August 2013.
Watch Jim DeFede's Interview With Porter Fischer
Biogenesis Whistleblower: A-Rod Has Himself To Blame
Biogenesis Whistleblower: Cops Dropped The Ball In Steroid Scandal
Judge Orders Fischer Not Destroy Biogenesis Documents
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