Ex-BALCO lawyer who leaked may get to speak By Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin February 24, 2009     SAN FRANCISCO--Ex-BALCO founder Victor Conte's former lawyer Troy Ellerman who was jailed in July 2007 for 30 months for leaking confidential Federal Grand Jury testimony to San Francisco Chronicle reporters and authors of the book Game of Shadows Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams might be called to testify at the Barry Bonds BALCO perjury trial which starts jury selection on March 3rd. Ellerman was Conte's defense lawyer after Conte went to jail for steroid distribution the court may want to learn more about why Ellerman who lost his license to practice law and was disbarred leaked such information and more. Ellerman not only leaked the famous Bonds testimony when Bonds said he didn't knowingly use steroids "the Clear" also Ellerman had leaked information on testimony of former ball players Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Jeremy Giambi, Benito Santiago, Mark McGwire, and Rafeal Palmerio and many more. Ellerman 46, has served the longest prison sentence of any figure involved in the entire BALCO or Kirk Radomski steroid/perjury cases. Bonds trainer Greg Anderson is the closest in serving the longest jail sentence thus far, one year for contempt of court. Ellerman may be looked at again by the court about what he knew about Conte's steroid distribution and explaining his defense for BALCO including Conte's role in receiving any documentation on steroids scheduling, testing for undetectable steroids in the lab, shipping and receiving of products which were manufactured, and Conte's dealings with high profile athletes and his connections with them. Ellerman is scheduled to get out of jail sometime in early 2010. Ellerman kept his identity secret of being the leaker until the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ordered Fainaru-Wada and Williams to surrender the source of their grand jury information which some excerpts made it into their books and columns, the hugest and most famous was the Bonds testimony on his steroid knowledge. Ellerman came forward when pressure from the Court leaned on Fainaru-Wada and Williams refused to reveal their sources. The San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Post filed for shield law protection for Fainaru-Wada and Williams to protect journalists and their sources in obtaining information even grand jury testimony for their stories. The court virtually told Fainaru-Wada and Williams to reveal their sources or go to jail for contempt of court. The court was concerned how such testimony under seal order could have leaked out. Conte's lawyer Ellerman of course had access to all court documents and released all transcripts pertaining to testimony to Fainaru-Wada and Williams on computer disc.Once received Fainaru-Wada and Williams poured through the information provided by Ellerman and the key part of that information was the Barry Bonds testimony stating that he never knowingly used steroids. Ellerman came forward just before Fainaru-Wada and Williams were to be sent to jail for contempt of court in their attempt to protect their sources. Ellerman argued in court that his 2.5 year sentence should have been lighter than Vice-Presidential adviser Scooter Libby who received less time than Ellerman for leaking a CIA operative. That request was denied and Ellerman can try and make a deal with the court for an early release if he testifies about what he knows about BALCO and Victor Conte's dealings with the BALCO labs and his relationship with Bonds and the other athletes. Ken Gimblin and Joe Cronin are covering the Barry Bonds/BALCO perjury trial for Sportstalk Radio

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