Bonds gets 30-day home sentence, 2 years probation; then appeals it

On the final charge, the trial jury convicted Bonds of purposely answering questions about steroids with rambling non sequiturs in an attempt to mislead the grand jury.

“I think he probably got off a little easy,” said Jessica Wolfram, one of the jurors who convicted Bonds of obstruction. “He was just so clearly guilty, so I actually am happy he got sentenced to something.”

Wolfram said she researched the case after the trial and viewed evidence not presented then. After that, she felt even more comfortable that Bonds was guilty.

Besides Bonds, 10 people were convicted of various charges in BALCO cases. Six of them, including track star Marion Jones, were ensnared for lying to grand jurors, federal investigators or the court. Others, including Bonds‘ personal trainer Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges.

The government’s top BALCO investigator, Jeff Novitzky, declined to comment outside the courtroom after attending the hearing.

Bonds was one of two former baseball superstars to stand trial in doping-related cases this year. The trial of pitcher Roger Clemens was halted after just two days in July because prosecutors used inadmissible evidence. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has set a new trial for April 17.

Both men will face a different judgment day in 2013, when they’ll be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

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Associated Press writers Jason Dearen in San Francisco and Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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