TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays handed over two boxes of documents to U.S. officials in the steroid investigation of retired pitcher Roger Clemens, who once played for the team, police said Thursday.
Toronto police would not reveal what kind of documents were involved, but said they came from the headquarters of the American League team.
The request came from the U.S. Department of Justice and the team turned over the documents in June, said Det.-Const. Jay Gill, who handled the case.
Team lawyers prepared the documents after police arrived with a court order, he added.
“I basically picked up all the documents that were requested in the court order and I delivered two bankers boxes to the Crown,” Gill said.
The Crown attorney’s office then transferred the files to investigators in Washington — the extent of the Toronto force’s involvement in the case, police said.
“They are the primary investigators and they just essentially asked us for our assistance and we did,” said Const. Tony Vella.
Clemens is accused of lying to U.S. Congress about whether he used performance enhancing drugs.
Last week, he pleaded not guilty to three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of Congress.
While he played for the Blue Jays in 1997 and 1998, Clemens won two of his seven Cy Young awards for being named the league’s best pitcher. In his 23-season career, he had a total of 354 wins and 4,672 strikeouts.
While he could not discuss the contents of the files, Gill said but said the Jays fully complied with the court order.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice said a court order prevents prosecutors and defence lawyers from commenting.
“The Department of Justice has regulations that are fairly strict about what we can say while an investigation is ongoing, and while a trial is pending, so I really am not at liberty to comment in any way,” said Bill Miller.
The Blue Jays also declined to speak about the case.
“We do not comment about matters pending before courts other than to confirm that it is our policy to comply with all valid legal process,” said spokesman Jay Stenhouse.
Clemens testified before a U.S. committee after being named in the Mitchell Report, which found rampant use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in baseball. He maintains that he did not take steroids or human growth hormone.
If convicted of all counts against him, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5-million fine, but 15 to 21 months is the more likely sentence under federal guidelines.
Jury selection for his trial begins in April.
Former Blue Jays conditioning coach and trainer Brian McNamee has said he injected the pitcher with steroids. Clemens says he only received vitamin B-12 injections.
Former teammate Andy Pettitte also told congressional investigators that Clemens told him he had used human growth hormone. Clemens says Pettitte did not accurately remember their conversation.