In Pursuit of Bonds, Feds Put Screws on Trainer's Family

Federal authorities are still trying to get Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds’ former personal trainer, to testify about the baseball star’s steroid use, the New York Times reports, and may prosecute his wife and mother-in-law on tax charges to coerce him. “I have never heard anything like this,” said a lawyer for Nicole Gestas, Anderson’s wife. “It really is mean-spirited.”

“Fundamentally it is unfair that the government would threaten Nicole and her mother,” he added; Anderson has refused for years to testify about Bonds, even spending time in prison for contempt. Legal experts say the feds’ move is by the book: “It’s definitely hardball and can be looked at as heavy-handed but it is not unusual or inappropriate, especially in drug cases,” a former federal prosecutor said. (More Barry Bonds stories.)