Major League Baseball Player Miguel Tejada Sentenced for Misrepresentations to Congress in Its Investigation of Steroid Use in Baseball

WASHINGTON—Miguel O. Tejada, a Major League Baseball (MLB) player, was sentenced today on his prior guilty plea to misrepresentations to a Congressional Committee (“Committee”) investigating the wrongful use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in baseball, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Tejada, 34, of the Dominican Republic, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Alan Kay. Judge Kay sentenced Tejada to one year of probation, with a requirement of 100 hours of community service, and required him to pay a $5,000 fine.

At the time of the taking of the guilty plea, Tejada agreed with the facts set forth in the Statement of Offense, a document he signed and which was filed with the Court. According to the Statement of Offense, on August 26, 2005, Congressional Committee staff conducted a transcribed interview in Baltimore, Maryland, 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 August 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.

As part of his guilty plea, Tejada admitted, however, that during the August 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 sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor and Assistant Director in Charge Persichini praised the hard work of the FBI investigative agents involved in this matter. 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 (“AUSAs”) 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 AUSAs Steven J. Durham and Daniel Butler, who prosecuted this matter.