Plea bargain for attorney in BALCO case thrown out
Troy Ellerman, the attorney who released grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds in the BALCO steroids case to the media, has had his plea bargain thrown out by a federal judge. Ellerman pleaded guilty to four felonies in February, and the plea agreement specified a prison term of up to 2 years and a fine of $250,000. His lawyer argued for less time, however, citing Ellerman’s drug and alcohol abuse and depression.
Ellerman accused the government of leaking the testimony in an effort to get charges against his clients dropped. However, in his guilty plea, Ellerman admitted to disclosing grand jury transcripts to a reporter and to falsely blaming the information leaks on the government. He was charged with obstruction of justice, filing a false declaration and two counts of contempt.
The judge said that 2 years was not nearly long enough, and has given the parties until July 12 to agree to a longer prison term. He said they’d have to recommend at least the minimum in the federal guidelines, which is 27 to 32 months. The judge said that Ellerman has damaged the criminal justice system by interfering with a prosecution, smearing the reputations of the attorneys he accused of leaking the information, and harming grand jury secrecy.
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