Miguel O. Tejada, a Major League Baseball (MLB) player, has pled guilty to misrepresentations to a Congressional committee investigating the wrongful use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, announced today.Tejada, 34, of the Dominican Republic, entered his misdemeanor plea earlier today at a hearing in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Alan Kay. When Tejada is sentenced on March 26, 2009, he faces up to one year in prison under the relevant statute, but under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, he faces a likely sentencing range of probation to 6 months.
At the time of the taking of the guilty plea, Tejada agreed with the facts set forth in the Statement of Offense, a document that he signed and which was filed with the Court. According to the Statement of Offense, on Aug. 26, 2005, Congressional committee staff conducted a transcribed interview in Baltimore, Md., of Tejada in the presence of his attorney and a Spanish language interpreter. Although Tejada was not placed under oath, the committee staff advised Tejada of the importance of providing truthful answers.
As part of the Aug. 26, 2005 interview, Tejada was generally questioned by committee staff about, among other things, his knowledge of MLB players, including himself, discussing or using steroids and other banned performance-enhancing substances. Tejada told the committee staff that he never used performance-enhancing drugs and that he had no knowledge of other players using or even talking about steroids or other banned substances.
Tejada admitted today, however, that during the Aug. 26, 2005, congressional committee recorded interview, he withheld pertinent information about his knowledge of a teammate's use of steroids and human growth hormone by refusing and failing to state fully and completely the nature and extent of his knowledge of discussions with other MLB players. Additional information is set forth in the publicly available Statement of Offense.
In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Taylor and Assistant Director in Charge Persichini praised the hard work of the investigative agents involved in this matter, especially Special Agents John Longmire and Heather Young. They were also grateful for the assistance in this matter by U.S. Food and Drug Administration Special Agent Jeffrey Novitzky and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Parrella and Jeff Nedrow of the Northern District of California. Finally, they acknowledged the efforts of Auditor Robert Jodoin and Legal Assistant Lisa Robinson, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven J. Durham and Daniel Butler, who are prosecuting this matter.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
