Tejada charged with lying about drugs

Expected to plead guilty in court Wednesday on steroid issue

By Alyson Footer / MLB.com

HOUSTON — Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada was charged on Tuesday with lying to congressional investigators about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, according to a published report.

The Washington Post reported that Tejada made misrepresentations to congressional staffers during an interview in a Baltimore hotel room regarding steroids in baseball.

Tejada is scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., court officials told the paper. The charges against Tejada were outlined in documents filed in Washington federal court on Tuesday. The documents indicate that a plea agreement has been reached with Tejada, who is expected to plead guilty according to an ESPN report. The Astros have scheduled a 4 p.m. CT news conference for Wednesday at Minute Maid Park that will be aired live on MLB.com and attended by Tejada; his lawyer, Mark Tuohey; and Tejada’s agent, Diego Bentz.

A call to Tuohey from MLB.com was not immediately returned.

Tejada is not being charged with lying about the allegations concerning his own steroids use, according to the Post. Rather, prosecutors are accusing Tejada of giving false statements about his conversations with another player, former Athletics teammate Adam Piatt, about steroids and human growth hormone.

According to the Post report, Tejada faces a maximum penalty of one year in jail, but advisory sentencing guidelines call for a sentence of probation to six months behind bars.

The charges arrive a little over a year after the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform asked the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into whether Tejada gave false statements to members of the same committee in 2005 about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The allegations go back to 2005, when Rafael Palmeiro, Tejada’s former teammate, attributed a positive steroid test on a vitamin B-12 injection allegedly administered to him by Tejada. Palmeiro gave that testimony while under investigation by the House Committee for possibly lying under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs.

No charges were brought against Palmeiro because the Committee couldn’t find enough evidence to do so, although Tejada admitted during the investigation that he provided B-12, a known steroid masker, to Palmeiro and two other unidentified Orioles players.

In August of that same year, Tejada denied having used performance-enhancing drugs and said he was not aware of steroid use by others in baseball.

But the Mitchell Report, released in December 2007, suggests something far different. In the report, former Sen. George Mitchell said that Piatt, teammates with Tejada when they played with the Athletics, recalled providing steroids, testosterone and HGH to Tejada in 2003.

Piatt gave Mitchell cancelled checks from transactions he had with Tejada for a total of $6,300. A $3,200 check from Tejada to Piatt was dated March 21, 2003.

Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Young Black Men Unaware of H.I.V. Risks, Survey Finds

Young Black Men Unaware of H.I.V. Risks, Survey Finds

By RONI CARYN RABIN

A small survey of young black men from the South who tested positive for H.I.V. in their teens and early 20s found that most had engaged in risky sexual behaviors but thought it unlikely they would be infected, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than half of the 29 gay or bisexual men surveyed said they had engaged in unprotected anal sex in the year before they were infected and had had sex with slightly older men, the survey found. Both are risky behaviors, yet the vast majority of the young men said they had not thought that they would ever be infected. CLICK TO READ MORE…[NYT]

AMERICAN AIRLINES TO INTRODUCE CASHLESS CABINS ONBOARD U.S. DOMESTIC AND CANADA FLIGHTS

AMERICAN AIRLINES TO INTRODUCE CASHLESS CABINS ONBOARD U.S. DOMESTIC AND CANADA FLIGHTS

Fort Worth, TX (BlackNews.com) – American Airlines will begin this summer to transition to cashless cabins onboard flights within the United States and to and from Canada. On these flights, American, a founding member of the global oneworld® Alliance, will only accept major credit cards or debit cards for onboard purchases such as headsets, fresh light meals, snacks and alcoholic beverages.

“Moving to a cashless cabin allows us to streamline the inflight sales process for both our customers and flight attendants,” said Lauri Curtis, American’s Vice President — Onboard Service.

Flight attendants will use a hand-held Onboard Sales Recorder to charge credit and debit cards, eliminating the need to search for small bills or change. The airline has been using these user-friendly devices since May 2006. American Express® and other major credit and debit cards will be accepted. Receipts will be provided to passengers upon request.

About American Airlines
American Airlines, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® airlines serve 250 cities in 40 countries with, on average, more than 3,400 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American’s award-winning Web site, AA.com®, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld® Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve nearly 700 destinations in over 140 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, We know why you fly and AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR)

Current AMR Corp. releases can be accessed on the Internet.
The address is http://www.aa.com

For Catholics, a Door to Absolution Is Reopened

For Catholics, a Door to Absolution Is Reopened
By PAUL VITELLO

The announcement in church bulletins and on Web sites has been greeted with enthusiasm by some and wariness by others. But mainly, it has gone over the heads of a vast generation of Roman Catholics who have no idea what it means: “Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

In recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin.

The fact that many Catholics under 50 have never sought one, and never heard of indulgences except in high school European history (Martin Luther denounced the selling of them in 1517 while igniting the Protestant Reformation), simply makes their reintroduction more urgent among church leaders bent on restoring fading traditions of penance in what they see as a self-satisfied world. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE…[NYT]

A Proposal to Shore Up Banks With Pension Funds

A Proposal to Shore Up Banks With Pension Funds

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

Financial institutions in the United States probably need hundreds of billions of dollars in additional assistance, and one congressman wants to harness state and local pension funds to help them.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE…[NYT]