CARIBBEAN TODAY


NEWS


Jamaican-born coach guilty in U.S. athletics doping scandal


Trevor Graham, a
 Jamaican-born former
 Olympic athlete-turned-
track-coach to several of the
sport's bi_-,,,LI names, has
been found guilty of lying to a
United States grand jury and
faces time in prison.
 Graham, who was a mem-
ber of the Caribbean island's
4x400 meters silver medal-win-
ning squad at the 1988
Olympic Games and later
trained world stars including
Justin Gatlin, Marion Jones
and Tim Montgomery, was
convicted on one of three
counts of lying to federal inves-
tigators following a trial which
concluded in San Francisco,
California late last month.
 The jury could not agree
on a verdict for the other two
charges of lying to Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) agents,
which had been laid against
Graham following federal
investigations into the use of
performance-enhancing drugs.
 He was convicted of a


Gatlin


charge linked to his relation-
ship with Texas resident Angel
"Memo" Heredia, a key prose-
cution witness, who testified
that he supplied Graham with
drugs for some of his athletes.
Graham, who did not testify at
the trial, had earlier denied
those allegations.

TRAIL
 Graham's name first sur-
faced in the doping investiga-
tions after a syringe contain-
ing the performance-enhancer


known as "the clear", then an
undetectable steroid, was
traced to the Bay Area
Laboratory Co-Operative
(BALCO) several years ago.
BALCO had been linked to
supplying top athletes with
performance-enhancing drugs.
The syringe had been original-
ly sent to the U.S. Anti-
Doping Agency by an
unknown source. Graham
later admitted that he had
sent it.
 Since then BALCO's boss
Victor Conte has been con-
victed of supplying perform-
ance-enhancers. American
Jones, a multi-Olympic cham-
pion who at first vehemently
denied using performance-
enhancers, was later convicted
of lying to federal agents and
sentenced to six months in
prison. Montgomery, also of
the U.S. and a former world
record holder in the 100
meters, also admitted to using
enhancers. Gatlin, another
American, tested positive for


performance-enhancers and
was banned from the sport for
four years. He is appealing his
sentence.
 All three, plus several
other prominent track and field
athletes, trained with Graham
at his Sprint Capitol USA club
based in North Carolina.

SCAPEGOAT?
 William Keane, Graham's
attorney, called his client "the
original whistleblower in
BALCO" who was being


made a scapegoat.
 Several of Graham's for-
mer athletes testified at his
trial. Among them was
American Antonio Pettigrew,
an Olympic 4x400 meters
relay gold-medal winner, who
admitted, for the first time,
that he had used performance-
enhancers since 1997.
 Up to press time prosecu-
tors had not yet announced if
they would again try Graham
on the other two charges.
Keane said he would try to get
the charges dismissed.
 The conviction on the lone
charge carries a maximum sen-
tence of a $250,000 fine and
five years in prison. But
Graham, a first time offender,
is likely to be locked away for
under a year. His sentencing is
scheduled for Sept. 5.

Several sources, including
wire reports, contributed to
this story.
0


Antigua resolute despite gaming dispute with U.S.


HALIFAX, Canada In the
midst of a five-year battle with
the United States over
Internet gaming, the Antigua
government has insisted it has
no plans to give up on its
financial services sector.
 Speaking at the 38th
Annual Meeting of the
Caribbean Development Bank
Board of Governors, Finance
and Economy Minister Dr.
Errol Cort highlighted the
important role of the sector in
the country's economy and
said his government would
continue to pursue policies to
diversify the industry and to
ensure its future growth and
sustainability.
 "In an attempt to position
Antigua and Barbuda as a
premier jurisdiction for asset
protection and wealth man-
agement, a number of pieces


of legislation have been enact-
ed. These include the
International Trust Act, the
International Foundation Act
and the International Limited
Liability Company Act," Cort
said last month.
 "The government recog-
nizes the need to continuously
update its domestic laws,
thereby ensur-
ing that a
strong regula-
tory frame-
work is main-
tained and, in
this regard, we
have enacted
new legislation
that allows the
Financial
Services
Regulatory Commission
(FSRC) to operate as a single
regulatory authority for all


non-bank financial institutions
in addition to all International
Business Corporations," he
added.

BLOW
 His comments come as
the country's financial sector
recovers from a blow dealt by
Washington when, two years
ago, it barred U.S. banks and
credit card companies from
processing payments made to
online and offshore gambling
operators in Antigua. The
move prevented the twin-
island nation from tapping
into the lucrative American
gaming market.
 The matter was taken to
the World Trade Organization
(WTO) where a panel of arbi-
trators awarded $21 million in
sanctions against the U.S.
0


Jamaican, Haitians die after boat capsizes


NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC -
Bahamian authorities identi-
fied the bodies of the three
persons who died when the
boat they were on capsized in
a storm late last month.
 They said the deceased
were a Jamaican man and a
man and a woman from Haiti.
 Justin Snisky, chairman of
the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue
Association, said a fourth vic-
tim was snatched away by
sharks before officials could
retrieve the body.
 Bahamian authorities said
they are also trying to deter-
mine what happened to the
skipper of a sailboat en route
to the Netherlands from Fort
Lauderdale, Florida after his


vessel was caught in the same
storm on the night of May 24
that saw 45 mile-per-hour
winds and 12-foot seas.
 It was while looking for the
captain on May 25 that U.S.
Coast Guard officials spotted


the overturned fishing boat
about 13 miles west of Grand
Bahama Island. Bahamas police
spokesman Basil Rahming said
the vessel was apparently head-
ed for the U.S. coast.
0


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June 2008