Stephania McIlvain Should be Charged with Perjury
Magilla Gorilla
NYTimes
Published: September 16, 2010
A woman who worked closely with Lance Armstrong during the years he won
the Tour de France is expected to testify before a federal grand jury as
early as next week in a criminal investigation of Armstrong and his
associates.
Stephanie McIlvain, who served as Armstrong’s liaison to one of his
corporate sponsors, the sunglasses company Oakley, is expected to be
questioned about whether she knows anything about Armstrong’s alleged
doping, as well as the influence the seven-time Tour de France winner
has over the people who work in cycling, according to a source briefed
on the continuing investigation. The person is not authorized to speak
publicly about the case and asked not to be identified.
Neither McIlvain nor her lawyer, Thomas H. Bienert, Jr., returned phone
calls seeking comment.
McIlvain is one of several people who have received a subpoena to
testify to the grand jury, which has been convened in Los Angeles to
examine whether Armstrong and his associates have committed any crimes.
Tyler Hamilton, one of Armstrong’s teammates on the United States Postal
Service team, has already testified, according to people briefed on the
case. Other teammates, who did not want their names published because
the case is continuing, have spoken with investigators. At least two
riders have admitted their own doping on the United States Postal
Service team and said Armstrong had pressured teammates to dope.
Next up will most likely be McIlvain, who testified about Armstrong in a
2005 civil lawsuit. Armstrong and his former team owner, Tailwind
Sports, brought that case against SCA Promotions, an insurance company
that was seeking to withhold a $5 million bonus from Armstrong because
of doping allegations against him.
McIlvain was questioned about a time in 1996 when she and others close
to Armstrong were visiting him in an Indiana hospital during his battle
with testicular cancer. Frankie Andreu — Armstrong’s former teammate and
close friend on the United States Postal Service team — and his wife,
Betsy, testified that they had overheard a conversation that day between
Armstrong and a doctor in which Armstrong admitted to using steroids,
testosterone, cortisone, growth hormone and EPO. The Andreus are
cooperating with the federal investigation.
In her deposition for the SCA case, which Armstrong won, McIlvain
testified that she did not hear Armstrong admit to drug use. Armstrong,
who for years has vehemently denied doping, testified that no one at the
hospital had asked him if he had used performance-enhancing drugs.
Prosecutors are expected to key in on one particular piece of evidence
when questioning McIlvain before the grand jury, according to the person
briefed on the case. It is a tape recording of a phone conversation
between McIlvain and the three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond; they also
used to work together.
The taped conversation was among the reams of records that SCA
Promotions turned over to federal prosecutors in July.
LeMond, a longtime nemesis of Armstrong, has publicly stated that he
believes Armstrong used banned performance-enhancing drugs. In the taped
conversation from 2004, McIlvain appears to contradict her own sworn
testimony and Armstrong’s in the SCA case. LeMond asks McIlvain if she
would tell the truth about what she heard in the hospital room if a
lawsuit between LeMond and Armstrong ever arose.
“I’m not going to lie,” McIlvain is heard saying on the tape recording.
“You know I was in that room. I heard it.”
She later adds: “If I lie, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. You
know because, I, too, know quite a bit ’cause Lance and I were close,
you know. But I definitely won’t lie about that because it’s public
knowledge. A lot of people know about it, you know.”
McIlvain is also heard on the tape speaking about the power Armstrong
had over the people who worked with him and for him.
“For someone to have that much influence on people is scary,” she said,
adding: “Well, the whole thing of it is, Greg, is there is so many
people protecting him that it is just sickening, you know.”
She goes on to say that the part of Armstrong’s story that makes her the
maddest is “how many people he has given false hope to.”
Kathy LeMond, Greg’s wife, said she is surprised McIlvain has not been
charged with perjury. “I think what she said is pivotal in this case
because it shows what people will do for Lance, how far they will go to
protect him,” she said.
Tim Herman, Armstrong’s lawyer, said Armstrong’s alleged admission of
drug use to doctors in 1996 “just doesn’t seem plausible.” He said
McIlvain had told the truth.
“We’ve got 600 pages’ worth of medical records that show the absence of
any such conversation,” Herman said. “In terms of reliability and
credibility, testimony enjoys a lot more credibility than a phone
conversation with Greg LeMond.” He said LeMond had “a habit of telling
people they are being taped from time to time and encouraging them to be
colorful in their comments.”
McIlvain’s conflicting accounts could help prosecutors persuade her to
cooperate with the inquiry and provide more information, according to
lawyers familiar with such investigations.
Bradley Simon, a former federal prosecutor who specializes in
white-collar criminal defense, said that the first step in an
investigation like this one is to issue a wide array of subpoenas, then
start putting pressure on people whose cooperation the government is
seeking.
“Perhaps they have been caught testifying falsely and now have something
to hold over them,” Simon said. “They could tell them, you could either
work with us and cut a deal, or we’ll prosecute you, too. They will
often do that to lesser people and generally work their way up the food
chain to the big guys.”
Andreu, Armstrong’s longtime teammate, in 2006 admitted to The New York
Times that he had used the blood-booster EPO in preparation for the 1999
Tour — Armstrong’s first Tour victory. His wife, Betsy, said her husband
had talked to the case’s lead investigator, Jeff Novitzky, behind closed
doors and that he would not discuss what he had told Novitzky.
In 2006 Betsy Andreu told The Times, however, that her husband had used
EPO in order to be a team player on the United Service Postal Service
team. “He did it for Lance,” she said at the time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/sports/cycling/17armstrong.html?_r=1&hpw
Frederick the Great
Magilla Gorilla <m.go...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
[NY Times article]
You copy articles and URLs to articles on rbr every
day. You think the articles support your take on
matters. There is somebody doing that in many usenet
groups. You are not unique. You may be a voice crying
in the wilderness: the wilderness of your own making.
--
Old Fritz
birdbrain
> In article <4C92910E.6CEAD...@sandiegozoo.org>,
> Magilla Gorilla <m.gori...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
>
> [NY Times article]
>
> You copy articles and URLs to articles on rbr every
> day. You think the articles support your take on
> matters. There is somebody doing that in many usenet
> groups. You are not unique. You may be a voice crying
> in the wilderness: the wilderness of your own making.
>
> --
> Old Fritz
The article does seem to support the thread title.
Magilla Gorilla
> In article <4C92910E...@sandiegozoo.org>,
> Magilla Gorilla <m.go...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
>
> [NY Times article]
>
> You copy articles and URLs to articles on rbr every
> day.
Yeah, so fucking what?
> You think the articles support your take on
> matters.
They do, asspipe.
> There is somebody doing that in many usenet
> groups.
So fucking what?
> You are not unique.
So fucking what?
> You may be a voice crying
> in the wilderness: the wilderness of your own making.
How much of Lance's semen have you swallowed in the past 2 years?
>
>
> --
> Old Fritz
Bitch.
Magilla
Frederick the Great
<44a4cb67-bb48-4d4a...@q40g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
birdbrain <zzfra...@mac.com> wrote:
> On Sep 16, 8:10 pm, Frederick the Great <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> > In article <4C92910E.6CEAD...@sandiegozoo.org>,
> > Magilla Gorilla <m.gori...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
> >
> > [NY Times article]
> >
> > You copy articles and URLs to articles on rbr every
> > day. You think the articles support your take on
> > matters. There is somebody doing that in many usenet
> > groups. You are not unique. You may be a voice crying
> > in the wilderness: the wilderness of your own making.
>
> The article does seem to support the thread title.
So what?
--
Old Fritz
Frederick the Great
Magilla Gorilla <m.go...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
> Frederick the Great wrote:
>
> > In article <4C92910E...@sandiegozoo.org>,
> > Magilla Gorilla <m.go...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
> >
> > [NY Times article]
> >
> > You copy articles and URLs to articles on rbr every
> > day.
>
> Yeah, so fucking what?
Answer below.
> > You think the articles support your take on
> > matters.
>
> They do, asspipe.
So what?
> > There is somebody doing that in many usenet
> > groups.
>
> So fucking what?
So let's dance.
> > You are not unique.
>
> So fucking what?
Because you think you are.
> > You may be a voice crying
> > in the wilderness: the wilderness of your own making.
>
> How much of Lance's semen have you swallowed in the past 2 years?
Are we going to compare?
If Armstrong read your rants
he would treat them as if he
were being propositioned in
a public toilet.
> Bitch.
>
> Magilla
Yes, you do.
--
Old Fritz
Magilla Gorilla
Frederick the Great wrote:
So what??? Read your fucking response, assface. Don't start something
you can't finish and then try to make it appear you didn't start
something.
I'll break you, mate. I'll break you like Lance Armstrong's PR machine
going after a domestique who says they saw Lance taking EPO.
Magilla
Frederick the Great
Magilla Gorilla <m.go...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
> Frederick the Great wrote:
>
> > In article
> > <44a4cb67-bb48-4d4a...@q40g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
> > birdbrain <zzfra...@mac.com> wrote:
> >
> > > On Sep 16, 8:10Â pm, Frederick the Great <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> > > > In article <4C92910E.6CEAD...@sandiegozoo.org>,
> > > > Â Magilla Gorilla <m.gori...@sandiegozoo.org> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > [NY Times article]
> > > >
> > > > You copy articles and URLs to articles on rbr every
> > > > day. You think the articles support your take on
> > > > matters. There is somebody doing that in many usenet
> > > > groups. You are not unique. You may be a voice crying
> > > > in the wilderness: the wilderness of your own making.
> > >
> > > The article does seem to support the thread title.
> >
> > So what?
>
> So what??? Read your fucking response, assface. Don't start something
> you can't finish and then try to make it appear you didn't start
> something.
>
> I'll break you, mate. I'll break you like Lance Armstrong's PR machine
> going after a domestique who says they saw Lance taking EPO.
There is more to what I wrote.
You know that because you replied
to it in another message. So all
you are doing here is puffing up
and beating your chest.
Good simile. I see you are paying attention.
--
Old Fritz