Several news outlets (including NPR, VeloNation and CyclingNews) are reporting that the decision to drop the criminal charges against Lance Armstrong came as a big surprise to several federal agencies that were working on the case. The word is that the other agencies believed they had a solid case against Lance. You have to wonder what motivated the individual at the US Attorney's Office who allegedly made this decision on his own, Andre Birotte, to take this action. Was Birotte given a donation like the UCI received a donation?! Here are some quotes to consider:
“Sources who know about the case say that within the agencies involved in the investigation, the FBI, the FDA, the US Postal Service, there is surprise, even shock and anger about the US Attorney’s decision,” he said on today’s NPR sports news. “Those agencies reportedly only got about a half hour notice that the decision was going to be announced. And this was after there had been indications that prosecutors were preparing to indict Armstrong and others on federal crimes, including mail fraud, drug distribution, wire fraud, witness tampering.
“Those indictments were said to be coming soon, maybe even next month. One source said there were absolutely no weaknesses in the case. On the other hand, I was told by a person with knowledge of the decision that the US Attorney didn’t agree there was sufficient evidence of federal crimes. The person also said that while this announcement came quickly, the US Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. struggled with the decision.”
Time will tell whether Andre Birotte's motive and reasoning for dropping the case comes to light.
Too many Big Fish to Fry
ReplyDeleteThere have been many verbal accusations and to date, no substantiated evidence brought into court. This all leaves me with some doubt of his innocence, but without convictable evidence, he is clean. End of story...I hope.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, Contador is a lying dog and cycling remains a dirty sport.