Barry Bonds Indicted for Perjury

Barry Bonds, the former San Francisco Giant who broke Hank Aaron’s 755 home run record last year and hitting a career total 762 home runs, was indicted on Thursday on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

Bonds is accused of lying under oath before a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied using banned drugs. The indictment states that Bonds lied when he stated under oath that he never used steroids, testosterone, human growth hormone and tetrahydrogestrinone, a drug nick named "the clear," which was a steroid that was undetectable at that time and was developed by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).

The indictment also stated that Bonds lied when he testified before the grand jury that his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, never injected him with drugs. Anderson was released from prison Thursday night after having been jailed over a year for contempt of court for his refusal to testify against Bonds.

Bonds earned $17 million last year playing with the Giants, but the team declined signing him for another season. Bonds was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player seven times, five of them as a Giant and twice when he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On August 7, 2007, Bonds hit his 756th home run, surpassing Aaron’s record and making him baseball’s new home run king.

The 43-year-old outfielder will be arraigned December 7th and could face as much as 30 months in jail if convicted.