With the news coming Tuesday that Miguel Tejada would be facing charges for lying to Congress about his knowledge of steroid use and that he was planning on responding to those charges with a guilty plea, the general speculation was that the penalty would be pretty light. In all likelihood, that's still going to be the case (why would Tejada plead guilty otherwise?), but that doesn't mean that there isn't a lot at stake here. While reading the AP story about about Tejada's situation today, there's one paragraph that really jumps out:
The terms of the plea deal were outlined in a letter to Tejada's attorneys dated Feb. 5, and he was given a deadline of Feb. 23 to respond. "His guilty plea in this case may subject him to detention, deportation and other sanctions at the direction of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement," the letter said.The problem is that lying to Congress is a crime of moral turpitude and that's an offense that's punishable by deportation for immigrants. It seems really, really unlikely that that's what's going to happen to Tejada, especially since he's agreed to plead guilty and all, but it is certainly a possibility. It does give an entirely different picture of the gravity of what Tejada's being charged with here. He'll likely get off with probation, but when he does he should be thankful that the penalty wasn't much worse.
Hat-tip to Baseball Musings
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GOOD BYE AHOLE...
Screw AROD http://fanzak.com/fzrants/Cubs__Storylines_of_the_SpringThe_Rotation
As a baseball fan we all should know the other 103 players and put the end to the steroids era.Put it to rest and put the other 103 names out there.Some players has to defend themselfs so put out so all the good players dont have to put up with this.
sigh.
The federal govt. would not hesitate to deport a minimum income working individual, but they will allow probation for Tejada? Yes, let's allow him to continue making his millions in the U.S., but send some poor KFC employee packing if he/she violates a federal statute. Goes to show, if you have deeper pockets to afford attorneys, what it will get you. The ONLY reason he is pleading guilty is so that he can continue receiving his high salary from MLB and its fans. Equality for all? Yeah, right.
WOOF!!!!!