A federal criminal investigation ("the criminal investigation"), led by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division ("IRS-CID), commenced in the Northern District of California concerning Balco's distribution of anabolic steroids and other illegal performance-enhancing drugs and the related money laundering of proceeds from the drug distributions. The criminal investigation initially resulted in an indictment and the convictions of four defendants on federal charges, including illegal drug distribution and money laundering offenses.Which basically means that the government started all this because they weren't getting their cut. When you hear "money laundering," think "creative tax evasion." Seriously, why else launder money?
I'm no fan of Bonds, but its hard to believe this wasn't a witch hunt. I'm not saying they went after him because he's black -- while possible, it's more likely because he's a jerk -- but people were out to get Bonds.
To think otherwise is to believe that there was absolutely no complicity the Commissioner's Office when steroids helped bring baseball back. That no managers that deal with the players everyday knew anything. That no general managers whose jobs depend on the fitness of players they negotiate with had any knowledge about such a prevalent problem. And of course, that owners who have millions of their own dollars invested in these athletes would not make it their business to know anything and everything they could about the lives of their investments.
Right.
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