Imperial Valley News

Tejada, 34, of the Dominican Republic, entered his misdemeanor plea earlier today to one count at a hearing in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia before the Honorable Magistrate Judge Alan Kay. When Tejada is sentenced on March 26, 2009, he faces up to one year in prison under the relevant statute, but under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, he faces a likely sentencing range of probation to six months in prison.

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.

Tejada admitted today, 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 guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Taylor and Assistant Director in Charge Persichini praised the hard work of the investigative agents involved in this matter, especially Special Agents John Longmire and Heather Young. 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 are prosecuting this matter.