Don’t do drugs kids, and don’t sell ’em either.
Anthony Bosch, the former owner of a Florida medical clinic who posed as a doctor and illegally supplied steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs to professional baseball players and even high school athletes, was sentenced yesterday to four years in federal prison.
Bosch, who choked back tears in court and said the clinic was a legitimate business gone awry, sought a more lenient term because of his cooperation in the investigation, but U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles refused.
Alex Rodriguez issued a statement Tuesday, apologizing to Yankees fans for the “mistakes” that led to his 2014 suspension.
“I’m ashamed of myself. I’m remorseful,” Bosch claimed. “I can’t put into words how sorry I am.”
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said that rather than help people with medical problems, Bosch’s main goal was to rake in money by illegally making the athletes “bigger, stronger and faster ballplayers.”
Bosch liked to call himself Dr. T, according to court records.
“He was not a legitimate doctor. He wasn’t treating an illness. He wasn’t treating a disease,” Sullivan said.
Bosch lawyer Guy Lewis, a former U.S. attorney in Miami, said that without his cooperation, MLB would not have had sufficient evidence to sustain Rodriguez’s suspension. Lewis said Bosch has met dozens of times with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and helped prosecutors pore over thousands of pages of documents.
That cooperation, Lewis added, came despite threats from unnamed people warning Bosch to keep his mouth shut, forcing him to hire security services and move to several different locations. Bosch was also offered $150,000 to flee to Colombia and “lay low,” but he did not, Lewis said.
“Mr. Bosch has cooperated thoroughly and extensively,” Lewis said. “He was truthful. He was reliable.”
But the judge refused Lewis’ request that Bosch receive a lighter sentence of just under three years.
Syed Mikhail Hussain is fan of all things NYC and Hip Hop. Winner of the sperm race back in ’89. He does a weekly basketball podcast. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter at @swishthis.
