Feds close Lance Armstrong doping case; No charges

LOS ANGELES - Federal prosecutors closed their investigation of Lance Armstrong without charging him over allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort aimed at examining whether a doping program was created to keep the seven-time Tour de France winner and his teammates running at the head of the pack.

Armstrong has steadfastly denied he doped during his unparalleled career, but the possibility of criminal charges threatened to stain his legacy as the world's greatest cyclist and could have cast a shadow over his cancer charity work.

The probe, anchored in Los Angeles where a grand jury was presented evidence by federal prosecutors and heard testimony from Armstrong's former teammates and associates, began with a separate investigation of Rock Racing, a cycling team owned by fashion entrepreneur Michael Ball.

The grand jury was looking into whether Armstrong defrauded his sponsors when he signed contracts that prohibited doping, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley reported Friday. The United States Anti-Doping Agency, which polices doping in sports, said its investigation will continue.

United States Attorney AndrDe Birotte Jr. announced in a press release that his office "is closing an investigation into allegations of federal criminal conduct by members and associates of a professional bicycle racing team owned in part by Lance Armstrong."

He didn't disclose the reason for the decision. An attorney for Armstrong told CBS News, "This is great news. Lance is pleased that the united states attorney made the right decision."

60 Minutes: Tyler Hamilton accuses former teammate

The pronouncement comes after a pair of less-than-successful cases against top athletes accused of doping. Home run king Barry Bonds was found guilty of obstruction of justice and sentenced in December to 30 days' home detention — a conviction he's appealing — but prosecutors were unable to convince a jury he lied about using steroids. Roger Clemens' steroid trial is slated for April 17 after a judge declared a mistrial last summer when prosecutors showed jurors inadmissible evidence.

Investigators looked at whether a doping program was established for Armstrong's team while, at least part of the time, they received government sponsorship from the U.S. Postal Service. They also examined whether Armstrong encouraged or facilitated doping on the team.

Armstrong won the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005.

Led by federal agent Jeff Novitzky, who also investigated Bonds and Clemens, U.S. authorities sought assistance overseas, requesting urine samples of U.S. Postal riders from France's anti-doping agency and also meeting with officials from Belgium, Spain and Italy.

Prosecutors also subpoenaed Armstrong supporters and ex-teammates to testify in Los Angeles. Among them were Ukrainian cyclist Yaroslav Popovych, who rode on three Armstrong teams dating back to 2005; Allen Lim, an exercise physiologist for Team Radioshack; and longtime Armstrong friend Stephanie McIlvain.

The investigation began after Novitzky was told about a cache of PEDs found by a landlord in the vacated apartment of Kyle Leogrande, a cyclist who rode for Rock Racing and had a doping ban, according to several people familiar with the case.

The investigation also was spurred by disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis, who claims Armstrong had a long-running doping system in place while they were teammates. Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for drug use, acknowledged in 2010 he used performance-enhancing drugs after years of denying he cheated.

One of the most serious accusations came during a "60 Minutes" interview last May when former teammate Tyler Hamilton said he saw Armstrong use EPO during the 1999 Tour de France and in preparation for the 2000 and 2001 tours.

The report also said Armstrong loyalist George Hincapie, another ex-teammate, told federal authorities that he and Armstrong supplied each other with PEDs and discussed them. Hincapie released a statement after the segment aired, saying he did not speak with the show and didn't know where it got its information.

As the investigation progressed, Armstrong assembled a legal team, hired a spokesman and briefly created a website to address any of the allegations reported by the media.

Frustrated by a slew of news articles about the investigation, Armstrong's attorneys filed a motion in July, asking a judge to order federal agents to testify about their contacts with reporters.

[Pelley_Lies]

Scott Pelley is no journalist. Talk about someone seeking attention. He runs the 60 minutes crap just before he takes over as anchor to draw attention to his time slot. Then, when two years of federal investigation prove his interviews were BS he still runs them in a pathetic attempt to prove he was right to run the story. If you cant get a federal grand jury to indict after 2 years then there is really nothing there but a bunch of admitted dopers and losers complaining!

Long Live Lance!!!!!!

[fedup12]

Bonds and Clemens cases are different. They did not have testing like bicycle tours.

Like I said Armstrong was the most tested champion in history. If he did use anything is was stuff we dont test for or he didnt use much.

Its just a witch hunt by the french.

[smittyc]

Armstrong, Bonds, etc, investigations have sharpened the tools of the Anti Doping agencies. Going forward the sports world will be a little cleaner.

[taxchurches]

I'm not interested in bicycling or Armstrong, but those who went out of their way to tarnish what were apparently this man's honest accomplishments should be ashamed.

[smittyc]

I could care less also whether these two has beens are found guilty or innnocent. The biking world and the baseball world, the world they live in know they are guilty and so does the public. The evidence is overwhelming, the problem in both cases was it was not admissable in court. The bigger picture is the mandated drug testing that has been put in place to screen out the substance abusers in sports levels the playing field for athletes that don't use performance enhancing drugs. Neither Bonds nor Armstrong is kidding anybody but themselves.

[Rdepontbaltimore]

Okay, guys, it's high time we start investigating Novitsky! WHY was he so dogged on this case? WHY was he so quick to accept testimony from known liars and cheaters, while even quicker to deny testimony from a non-liar, non-cheater---Lance Armstrong. Why did he feel he had the right to travel around the world at our expense "tracking down accomplicies" or something, always in the great playgrounds of this planet?

How much did Novitzky cost us? How much has he cost Lance, his charities, his sponsors, his fans...and why the heck did he do this???

[kbbpll]

Not just the money wasted - he "allegedly" leaked grand jury testimony, etc. He needs to be prosecuted himself. But he's the Dick Cheney of the FDA.

[Noval53]

Good. I wonder how many millions of dollars Lance had to waste defending himself from this witch hunt; lucky he had enough money to fight back. As for Novitzky, what goes around comes around.

[82ndairbornediv]

Oh, gee, thanks. After dragging his name through the dirt for years, you decided that with NO EVIDENCE whatsoever you don't have a case? Let's see: HE PASSED EVERY SINGLE TEST HE EVER TOOK. No doubt there will be plenty of morons who decide that he's guilty anyway.

[rusirius45]

Wait a second. Are you trying to tell me that the accusations of two admiited liars like Landis and Hamilton and a hatchet job by that hack Scott Pelly can't trump 200+ passed drug tests by Lance Armstrong? Oh, where is the justice? Yes, that was sarcasm. Anyone who doubts Armstrong needs to remember that these were, and stiil are with existing samples, administered by European labs that would like better than to bust Lance. The FACT that Lance tests clean should be enough to shut up the haters. Problem is, it's still not. Oh well, these folks probably doubt that the world is round.

[tmittelstaed]

none of the 200 tests that Armstrong took were testing for the kind of drugs that he was allegedly using so passing them proves nothing.

[omded]

There is so much real crime happening in our country, and our prosecutors are spending their time chasing after champion athletes, checking if they've used PED'S? Either put their time to good use, or send them home and save my tax money.

[baileyccc]

Fifty years from now they will look back at this era and they will realize that Lance was the master of staying one step ahead of all testing.

[rfreschner]

Perhaps, but they've been able to make a case and/or get test evidence against everyone else they've turned the spotlight on, so I tend to doubt it.

[bradkt1]

Perhaps you are right. I had my suspicions, too. We will never know for sure.

This is a very simple matter, however: either he did it and got away with it or he didn't do it and was a clean competitor. Our society is built on the principle that one who is accused of wrongdoing is innocent until proven guilty.

Lance Armstrong has never been proven guilty. Therefore, the verdict is in: he is innocent.

End of story.