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Canseco charged with misdemeanor drug violation
By Greg Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
4:33 p.m. October 14, 2008
SAN DIEGO – Former major league baseball player Jose Canseco was charged with a misdemeanor Tuesday in federal court and released on his own recognizance.
In a brief appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruben Brooks, Canseco was charged with one count of introducing a mislabeled drug into interstate commerce.
Canseco, dapper in a light-colored suit with no tie, listened and said only “thank you” during the court appearance. The charge carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Though the former slugger made headlines when he authored a book that accused several major leaguers of using performance enhancing drugs and described his own use of such substances, he declined to comment on the accusations of drug possession Tuesday.
Canseco was detained at the international border at San Ysidro Thursday by immigration officials who found him with a fertility drug obtained in Mexico. The drug, human chorionic gonadotropin, is illegal without a prescription.
Greg Emerson, Canseco's lawyer, said outside of court that the mislabeling relates to the fact that the information on the bottle was in Spanish, not English.
He waved off a small knot of reporters outside the federal building downtown. He is next due in court for a preliminary hearing Nov. 4. He did not enter a plea at his appearance Tuesday.
The drug helps restore production of testosterone in steroid users.
On Monday, Emerson said his client was given “special consideration” by immigration officials, who said they searched the former athlete's car at a border crossing and found the drug.
Emerson said Canseco was held at the San Ysidro border crossing for nearly 10 hours. Officials released Canseco after he agreed to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to search his Los Angeles-area home.
The attorney said Canseco had spent the day in Tijuana with a woman and her 7-year-old daughter “looking for Halloween decorations.”
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Staff writer Dana Littlefield contributed to this report.
Greg Moran: (619) 542-4586; greg.moran@uniontrib
By Greg Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
4:33 p.m. October 14, 2008
SAN DIEGO – Former major league baseball player Jose Canseco was charged with a misdemeanor Tuesday in federal court and released on his own recognizance.
In a brief appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruben Brooks, Canseco was charged with one count of introducing a mislabeled drug into interstate commerce.
Canseco, dapper in a light-colored suit with no tie, listened and said only “thank you” during the court appearance. The charge carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Though the former slugger made headlines when he authored a book that accused several major leaguers of using performance enhancing drugs and described his own use of such substances, he declined to comment on the accusations of drug possession Tuesday.
Canseco was detained at the international border at San Ysidro Thursday by immigration officials who found him with a fertility drug obtained in Mexico. The drug, human chorionic gonadotropin, is illegal without a prescription.
Greg Emerson, Canseco's lawyer, said outside of court that the mislabeling relates to the fact that the information on the bottle was in Spanish, not English.
He waved off a small knot of reporters outside the federal building downtown. He is next due in court for a preliminary hearing Nov. 4. He did not enter a plea at his appearance Tuesday.
The drug helps restore production of testosterone in steroid users.
On Monday, Emerson said his client was given “special consideration” by immigration officials, who said they searched the former athlete's car at a border crossing and found the drug.
Emerson said Canseco was held at the San Ysidro border crossing for nearly 10 hours. Officials released Canseco after he agreed to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to search his Los Angeles-area home.
The attorney said Canseco had spent the day in Tijuana with a woman and her 7-year-old daughter “looking for Halloween decorations.”
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Staff writer Dana Littlefield contributed to this report.
Greg Moran: (619) 542-4586; greg.moran@uniontrib
