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BARRY BONDS — The San Francisco Giants outfielder broke baseball's career home run record on Aug. 7 when he hit number 756, surpassing the previous record held by Hank Aaron for more than three decades. He also holds baseball's season home run record of 73. The Giants told Bonds in September they would not bring him back next season, ending a 15-year run. Allegations of steroid use have dogged Bonds for years and led to fierce debates over whether his records were tainted. According to a book published last year by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, Bonds began using a variety of banned substances as early as 1998, including steroids and human growth hormone. The scrutiny intensified in late 2003, when Bonds testified before the federal grand jury investigating BALCO, the company at the center of the doping scandal. According to the indictment, Bonds told the grand jury he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds, 43, said his personal trainer Greg Anderson supplied him with a cream the slugger thought was arthritis balm and a clear liquid he thought was flaxseed oil, descriptions that match the performance-enhancing drugs "the cream" and "the clear" distributed by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. Federal prosecutors launched a new investigation into whether he lied under oath and possible tax-evasion charges stemming from sales of Bonds memorabilia.

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KIMBERLY BELL — The graphic artist from San Jose, Calif., says she began dating Barry Bonds in 1994 and the relationship continued for five years after the player remarried in 1998. Bell testified before a grand jury that Bonds told her of his steroid use and flew into rages she attributed to steroid use, according to testimony obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. She also testified that Bonds gave her $80,000 in proceeds from the sale of autographed baseballs and other memorabilia to make a down payment on a house. Bonds' attorney Michael Rains identified Bell as a key witness in the perjury investigation, and he has accused her of trying to extort money from his client.

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GREG ANDERSON — Barry Bonds' childhood friend and personal trainer, Anderson pleaded guilty in 2005 to federal charges alleging he helped run a steroid-distribution ring that served dozens of athletes. He served three months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute steroids and one count of money laundering. He allegedly supplied Bonds with the BALCO-supplied performance-enhancing drugs known as "the cream" and "the clear." He spent most of the past year in a Bay Area federal jail for refusing to testify before the grand jury investigating his friend for perjury. A judge ordered his release following Bonds' indictment.

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VICTOR CONTE — The president of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame, Calif., the clinic at the center of the steroids scandal, was indicted along with Barry Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson, track coach Remi Korchemny and BALCO vice president James Valente on 42 counts of running a steroid-distribution ring. Conte pleaded guilty to money laundering and a steroid distribution charge in 2005 and served four months in prison. BALCO allegedly sold steroids to some of the biggest names in sports, including Oakland Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski, track star Marion Jones and Yankees stars Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield. Conte said last month he did not believe federal authorities had enough evidence to indict Bonds.

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TROY ELLERMAN — The one-time lawyer for Victor Conte pleaded guilty in February to allowing a San Francisco Chronicle reporter to view transcripts of grand jury testimony by Bonds and other star athletes. Ellerman was serving as the attorney for BALCO vice president James Valente, and it was while he was representing Valente that he allowed reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada to view the players' grand jury testimony. The leaked testimony was featured prominently in Fainaru-Wada's book co-written with Lance Williams called "Game of Shadows," which recounts the alleged steroid use of Bonds. A friend and former private investigator in Ellerman's law firm turned him in to authorities after they had a falling out. Ellerman blamed the pressures of the high-profile case coupled with alcohol and cocaine abuse for his actions. He is serving two and a half years in prison over the leak.

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KEVIN RYAN — The U.S. Attorney for Northern California stepped down in January, one of eight federal prosecutors sacked amid accusations against the Bush administration that the firings were a politically motivated scandal. As San Francisco's top federal prosecutor starting in 2002, Ryan initiated the prosecution of BALCO in 2003, when a track coach Trevor Graham contacted the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and identified BALCO president Victor Conte as the source of steroids detected in several track stars. Defense attorneys lashed out at Ryan and the U.S. Attorney's Office over the leaking of grand jury testimony to two San Francisco Chronicle reporters. Troy Ellerman later admitted to being the source of the leak.

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JEFF NOVITZKY — The Internal Revenue Service special agent has led the investigation of Barry Bonds and BALCO since the beginning. The one-time San Jose State baseball player worked out at the same Bay Area gym as Bonds and his personal trainer Greg Anderson. Defense attorneys have called him a failed athlete with a vendetta. Novitzky led a raid last year on the home of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley, who federal investigators say admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and named other players who used banned substances, including amphetamines.

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PATRICK ARNOLD — The Illinois chemist created "the clear," an undetectable designer steroid at the heart of the BALCO scandal. Arnold pleaded guilty last year to a charge of conspiring to distribute steroids and served three months in prison. The amateur bodybuilder admitted in court that he supplied BALCO with substances designed to evade testing. He also said he supplied steroids himself to coaches.

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TREVOR GRAHAM — Elite track coach who worked with disgraced sprinters Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin. Pleaded not guilty to three counts of making false statements to federal agents. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston granted a request from his defense lawyers to remove themselves from the case, which will delay the start of Graham's trial, which had been scheduled to start Nov. 26. Graham launched the BALCO probe in 2003 when he sent the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency a vial of "the clear." Graham was granted immunity for his cooperation, but prosecutors said the immunity did not protect him against charges of lying to investigators. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.

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MARION JONES — The three-time Olympic gold medalist pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal investigators in 2003 when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs. She said she was told by her then-coach Trevor Graham that she was taking flaxseed oil when it was actually steroids. After acknowledging that she started doping before the 2000 Olympics, Jones returned all five medals to the International Olympic Committee. International Olympic and track and field officials said they were prepared to wipe her name officially from the record books and possibly ban her from future Olympics in any capacity. Prosecutors have said Jones is likely to face a maximum of six months in prison when she is sentenced in January.

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MICHAEL RAINS — Barry Bonds' defense attorney has vigorously asserted his client's innocence since the start of the BALCO scandal. "He did not take anything illegal. His best friend in the world (strength trainer Greg Anderson) did not give him anything illegal," Rains told reporters in 2004. Before the BALCO case, the prominent Bay Area lawyer defended one of four Oakland police officers known as "The Riders" in a case that stirred scandal after a fellow officer accused the group of corruption and misconduct in 2000.

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STEVE HOSKINS — The sports memorabilia dealer was a one-time friend and business partner of Barry Bonds. The Redwood City, Calif., businessman and Bonds made huge profits selling autographs of the slugger. The relationship soured in 2003 when Bonds spotted a fan wearing a jersey bearing his autograph that he said was a fake, according to Hoskins' lawyer, Michael Cardoza. Rains has said Hoskins and Kimberly Bell are key witnesses in the government's case against Bonds.

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TAMMY THOMAS — Former elite cyclist was the first athlete charged in connection with the BALCO probe. She has pleaded not guilty to three counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. Banned from cycling for life in August 2002 after norbolethone, an obscure and previously undetectable steroid, was found in her urine. In October, Thomas' lawyer asked a judge to throw out the case against her, saying she unwittingly took the steroid but was not permitted to explain that to the grand jury when she testified.

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