BALCO cyclist a blueprint for eventual Barry Bonds trial

The BALCO-related trial of cyclist Tammy Thomas is being seen as a preview of the government's case against Barry Bonds.

BY NATHANIEL VINTON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Updated Thursday, March 27th 2008, 9:34 AM

SAN FRANCISCO - On March 14, 2002, a representative of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency went to Chula Vista, California, to collect a urine sample from an elite athlete who was training there. It was a surprise test, in more ways than one.

In a federal courtroom Wednesday, doping control officer Thomas McVay testified that the athlete came to the door with shaving cream on her face.

That is not a typo. The athlete in question was Tammy Thomas, a female track cyclist who was ensnared in the sprawling BALCO doping scandal.  Steroid abuse had given her facial hair, male-pattern baldness and a deep, gravelly voice, several witnesses have testified this week.

Thomas is a relatively obscure athlete, but her trial is seen as a preview of the government's case against Barry Bonds, who has pleaded not guilty to charges similar to those Thomas is facing - that is, perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from testimony the BALCO athletes gave to a grand jury in 2003.

So far, it has been a humiliating experience for Thomas and her family, who sit in the front row of the gallery and await the defense's opportunity to call its own witnesses. Meanwhile, they must endure descriptions of Thomas' freakish masculinity six years ago, which stands in contrast to her demure appearance now.

Indeed, the studious woman sitting intently at the witness table this week (Thomas is a law student now) bears little resemblance to the mannish figure in a photo that the assistant U.S. Attorneys repeatedly walk past the jury to show to the witnesses they've summoned to the stand.

Their tactics provide something of a glimpse into the gloves-off treatment that the same prosecutors might bring to bear on Bonds. Lawyers for other BALCO figures have been spotted in the courtroom this week.

Bonds' vexed name emerged yesterday during testimony from Kelcey Dalton, the former live-in girlfriend of Illinois chemist Patrick Arnold, who created undetectable steroids that were later distributed by BALCO.

Dalton recalled a meeting at a bodybuilding show in Las Vegas, where she and Arnold met with BALCO founder Victor Conte and his girlfriend and discussed drug deals. She said that money changed hands ($500 to $600 by her recollection) and that Conte mentioned Marion Jones, Barry Bonds and Tim Montgomery as athletes who were the users of the drugs.

Conte denied the allegations Wednesday.

"Kelcey Dalton is most certainly mistaken by saying that I ever told her that I gave any type of performance-enhancing drugs to Barry Bonds," Conte said in a statement e-mailed to reporters. "I may possibly have told her that I was working with Barry and had him on a comprehensive nutrition program, but never did I say to her that Barry Bonds used drugs."

For her part, Dalton said that in retrospect she realized that Arnold had sold the drugs he designed for far too little. Only when she later learned how much BALCO made selling it to professional athletes did she realize the value of the chemicals.

"I think we should have charged a lot more," she said. "We didn't charge nearly enough. It was very strong."

Federal prosecutors said yesterday that they expect to call IRS special agent Jeff Novitsky to the witness stand today.

The mysterious Novitzky has been the relentless driving force of the government's crackdown on steroids ever since he kick-started the BALCO probe in 2002. Digging through the laboratory's trash that year in search of a financial crime, he instead found documentation about famous athletes and strange pharmaceuticals.

But even some of the closest observers of the affair have never heard the man's voice beyond Novitzky's repeated refusals to comment on the case that has shaken the sports world to its foundations.

Source:  New York Daily News  Jeff Novitsky, BALCO, Kelcey Dalton, Kelcey, Dalton, Olympic Cyclist, Barry Bonds, Conte, Tammy Thomas, perjury