The former cyclist Lance Armstrong is currently the focus of a federal investigation for obstruction of justice, witness tampering and intimidation, according to ABC News. The U.S. news channel, which cites an anonymous source, reported on Wednesday that federal officials “are in the midst of an active criminal investigation of disgraced former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong.”
Southern California U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, who dropped last February an investigation against Lance Armstrong said on Tuesday he did not expect further prosecution despite recent doping confessions of former champion. The inquiry was conducted by the magistrate on charges of doping, fraud and conspiracy of Armstron when he was the leader of the U.S. Postal team. “Birotte does not speak for the federal government as a whole,” said the anonymous source cited by ABC News.
The U.S. Attorney said Tuesday that he is aware of recent statements made by Armstrong, referring to his highly publicized confession of doping in the Oprah Winfrey show last month. “Obviously, we’ll consider, we’ll continue to look at the situation, but that hasn’t changed our view as I stand here today,” Birotte said.
After years of fierce denials, including to federal investigators, former 41-year-old cyclist admitted to doping during his professional career. His former teammate Tyler Hamilton recently detailed in a book the doping system in their joint training and accused Lance Armstrong, the leader of the team, to have developed a system for routing EPO (erythropoietin).
In an interview with CBS, Hamilton told how Lance Armstrong had tried to intimidate him in 2011 in a bar in the United States. “I turned around and came across Lance Armstrong,” he told CBS last month; Armstrong said his legal team would “tear you apart on the witness stand,” and “make you life a living [expletive] hell.”
Lance Armstrong was formally deposed in October 2012 of his seven consecutive victories in the Tour de France (1999-2005) and disbarred for life after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused him of having actively participating in the most sophisticated doping program ever seen in the history of the sport.
The former sponsor of Armstrong, Texas-based insurance company SCA Promotions, has requested a refund of $12 million worth of bonuses paid to the infamous cyclist for his victories in the Tour de France. According to a lawyer interviewed by AFP, the company could file a complaint Wednesday.
The Texas company was taken to court by the former rider for refusing to pay a premium of $5 million after his sixth win of the Tour de France in 2004 while accusations of doping against him were circulating. Lance Armstrong has won the lawsuit.
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