BALCO Attorney Troy Ellerman Agrees to Long Prison Sentence

Lesson be learned, you leak federal grand jury testimonies to reporters, you will go to prison. For a long time. That's what's happening to Victor Conte's BALCO attorney Troy Ellerman, who gave information about athletes being investigated for steroids use such as Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Gary Sheffield, to San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams.

In papers filed in San Francisco federal court Thursday, prosecutors said Troy Ellerman is willing to accept that sentence [maximum of two years and nine months] after a judge last month rejected the original 24-month maximum sentence as too lenient.
Federal prosecutors did agree to reduce his maximum fine to $60,000 from $250,000.

District Court Judge Jeffrey White, who rejected the earlier deal, still must approve the new agreement when Ellerman returns to court July 12.

How long the actual sentence is remains to be determined. But we do know that this guy will be going to prison for quite some time. So that should take care of Ellerman, with Greg Anderson and Victor Conte already having served their terms. Next up, Bonds, Sheffield, and Giambi? I doubt it, but it's certainly a possibility.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-06-2007 @ 9:24AM

stanfordfan said...

I don't understand why leaking Grand Jury testimony is a crime when publishing that information and trampling on the rights of all the Grand Jury witnesses whose testimony was published and profiting from a best-selling book is ok. Troy Ellerman is going to prison to keep Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada out of prison, kind of like Greg Anderson going to prison to keep Barry Bonds out of trouble. Maybe this all makes sense to somebody, but I'm struggling with it.

7-06-2007 @ 10:35AM

The U will be BACK! said...

stanfordfan...

They have to get to the source. Grand Jury leaks are serious. He had no business leaking that information. And once the information was leaked, it was pretty much fair game.

I know is sounds all technical, but publishing, for legal pruposes, means the disclosure of info to a third party. It doesn't have to be written or broadcasted. That makes Ellerman the original publisher. After that, there is very little legal grounds for going after someone who "republished" that info.

7-06-2007 @ 2:40PM

Thanks, The U. It does sound technical, particularly considering that the SF Chronicle had the option of returning the leaked documents to their source without publication. The law may be clear on this, and no doubt you are correct. But it seems to me that the Game of Shadows authors used shady sources of information to point the finger at shady situations in baseball. Shady is still shady, legal or not.

7-06-2007 @ 3:06PM

I agree Stanford that it was shady business. I think they made a profit from the fruits of a criminal act. However, the 1st Amendment is very clear on protecting someone who is publishing information once it has been made public or "published."

That is why I am all to happy to see this attorney pay for supporting this shady book. It wouldn't have been possible without him.

7-06-2007 @ 4:04PM

gooey miles said...

just get bush to fix it

7-07-2007 @ 12:55AM

Dan said...

What I don't understand is why Barry Bonds is allowed to play baseball. I understand why prosecutors may feel they need Anderson, but why can't the commisioner say to Barry, "unless you agree to allow Greg Anderson to tell what he knows YOU can't play." Somebody explain this to me???

7-09-2007 @ 3:37PM

Kelly Prentice-Allen said...

I know this really does not matter to this baseball steriod deal at all. I knew Troy 20 years ago and he was one of the nicest guys around. Heck he 4 or 5 older sisters. He was allways a gentleman, born in the wrong century you might say. I KNOW this guy did this for the right reasons, in fact when I first heard about all of this I thought it was a different guy, till I saw the picture of him.

7-20-2007 @ 1:23AM

Sacramento Girl said...

I met Troy while working at the Courthouse in Sacramento. Nice guy, I'm sorry to hear about the mess he ended up in. I have no doubt that he will serve his time and hold his head up high. Good luck to you Troy!!