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Updated at 9:10 a.m., Thursday, February 15, 2007

Attorney to plead guilty to leaking BALCO testimony

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — A Colorado lawyer who admitted in court papers that he leaked secret grand jury documents in a federal steroids probe to reporters made an initial court appearance Thursday on obstruction of justice charges.

Troy Ellerman pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court, but prosecutors said it was a formality and they expected he would plead guilty later in the day.

Ellerman's appearance came the day after federal prosecutors announced he agreed to plead guilty to obstructing justice in a deal that would prevent two San Francisco Chronicle reporters from going to jail for refusing to divulge their source.

In court papers filed Wednesday, Ellerman said he allowed the Chronicle's Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada to view transcripts of the grand jury testimony of baseball stars Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and sprinter Tim Montgomery.

Ellerman had represented Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, the Burlingame-based supplements lab that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes, as well as BALCO vice president James Valente. They were among five men who pleaded guilty to steroids-related charges in an earlier phase of the investigation.

Ellerman, 44, of Woodland Park, Colo., agreed to plead guilty to four felony counts of obstruction of justice and disobeying court orders. He could spend up to two years in prison and pay a $250,000 fine. A judge still has to approve the terms of Ellerman's plea agreement; no sentencing date was set.

Ellerman, who is licensed to practice law in California, also faces disbarment.

The Chronicle published stories in 2004 that reported Giambi and Montgomery admitted to the grand jury that they took steroids, while Bonds and Sheffield testified they didn't knowingly take the drugs. The leaked testimony also was featured prominently in the writers' book, "Game of Shadows," which recounts Bonds' alleged use of steroids.

A federal judge ordered the reporters jailed after they refused to divulge their source. They have remained free pending an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but Ellerman's plea deal states that federal prosecutors will no longer try to put the reporters in prison.

Eve Burton, general counsel for Hearst Corp., which owns the Chronicle, would not confirm or deny that Ellerman was the source of the leaked documents. The reporters also declined to discuss their source.