Ex-Coach's Plea To Drop BALCO Doping Conviction Denied By SF Federal Judge
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) — A federal judge in San Francisco has rejected former track coach Trevor Graham's plea to erase his felony conviction for lying to federal investigators about his relationship with a steroids dealer in the Bay Area Lab Co-operative (BALCO) case.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said Monday she found nothing "unlawful" about Graham's 2008 conviction and therefore didn't have the authority to "expunge" it.
A jury found Graham guilty of lying to an IRS agent about the number of times he spoke with the dealer on the phone. Prosecutors dismissed two other related charges after jurors' couldn't unanimously agree on a verdict on those counts.
Graham, who coached former star sprinters Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery at the height of their fame, was sentenced to a year of house arrest.
Graham said he is still deciding whether to appeal the ruling.
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