http://www.justice.gov/...uary/13-civ-224.html

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Thanks. I tracked down the complaint and read it last night. It's pretty much like I thought - it's a False Claims Act suit. I'm not an expert in False Claims, but it shouldn't matter that the US benefited financially from the transaction. The damage is that the US was defrauded of money. As a matter of policy, the government does not like to be defrauded of money - the False Claims Act, with its severe consequences, directly reflects that policy.

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Mike Sparks


I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Just curious, what is LA likely doing with all his money right now? Is he putting it in his kids' funds, giving it to his kids' mother(s), creating offshore accounts, buying gold and burying it is his backyard, buying a house in Florida, etc.? What can he reasonably do semi-legally to avoid paying out all these potential claims? Can the US and other civil suits be covered by bankruptcy?

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Damn, that's a cold ass honkey.

Although people are saying this is huge news, I hardly think so. The dickhead is worth $125M. Even if he has to personally pay out $60M, I doubt that will impact him much with $65M left. The pompous prick will still be flying in his private jet.

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Adrian in Vancouver

Ok, tell us how you really feel

You put anyone in a situation where they lose nearly 50% of their value/wealth and they'll have to make some pretty significant changes, especially if you are in Lance's situation where the money coming in has slowly dried up, or is drying up.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Companies may have terminated their sponsorships, but they did not claw back his equity stakes. I wouldn't lose much sleep worrying about how LA will maintain his opulent lifestyle.

Hey Adrian, do you have something against people in general flying in private jets? If he is found to defrauded the government as the latest case alleges, he'll need to pay back a big chunk of change. He could end up penniless or he could end up still having an opulent lifestyle. How he personally ends up technically does not matter. What matters is that if/when found guilty that he pays back the damages and justice is served.

Person A defrauds the government, and Person A is found guilty, Person A pays

Insert whomever you want for Person A. In this case it is LA, in other cases it could be anyone else. As a society we should just objectively desire that justice happens, regardless of who the guy is, and whether they end up penniless or with an opulent lifestyle. Can we just use logic around here, rather than swearing and name calling (even if it is a third party?).

Paul - I have a problem with LANCE flying around in a private jet. He made his money based on fraud not based on fair play. Seems like a somewhat silly question you ask. I hardly think the names "dickhead" and "prick" are inappropriate given his behavior.

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Adrian in Vancouver

I guess Lance has made two gigantic mistakes: 1) Came back from retirement. 2) Opened big mouth on Oprah.
Interesting...

You forgot the actual mistake that brought him down. Calling Floyd an alcoholic in a press conference when his own council recommended that he throw some nice platitudes Floyd's way to calm him down from being omitted from RadioShack and ToC. Rather than calm down a guy who can ruin you, Lance decides to call him an alcoholic in the press.

Whoopsie.

Without this move, the comeback would have succeeded thanks to the UCI not sending his bio passport tests in for analysis, and Oprah would have been unnecessary.

Adrian, you're only devaluing yourself on a public forum by calling anyone a dickhead or prick (even LA). Call him a bully, call him overbearing, call him pompous, Call him out for cheating, or for fraud. No problem there because you're speaking logically, based on known facts, but you're not the using vocabulary of a 15 year old in a school yard brawl.

If you have a problem with him flying around in a private jet, that is fine. What level of finances would be appropriate then? Same as a neo pro triathlete having won a few tier 2 local Texas races and a few national class triathlons from 1987/88? Or let's say he went to a "clean" sport like triathlon, and he was already beating the likes of Tinley and Allen....should he be entitled to a similar level of finances that they ended up at?

What level of financial success should Jan Ullrich or Ivan Basso, or Roberto Heras or Richard Virenque or Contador or Vino, or Bjarne Riis, or Erik Zabel be at today? Not sure where you cut the line here.

There are specific situations being played our for which parties are asking him for damages. If they win, LA will have to pay. Where he ends up could swing any way, but I think if we want fairness in society he should have to pay back only for the items for which a case can be made. He could still end up rich or he could end up destitute but the process should play out to closure.

Perhaps his free testosterone level was so high that his aggression got a hold of him during the press conference.

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I don't think I have ever seen anyone have bigger ego than Lance. Just couldn't go away quietly.
It had to be something big with him being in the center. I guess all those glamorous years got into his head.

I always wondered why he fell off a cliff in 2010 TDF after placing 3rd in 2009. I doubt his training was insufficient...he's the most dedicated person I can think of (besides myself). Do you think that because of the criminal inquiry that began that year, UCI got cold feet and stopped aiding him?

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True. The names, although fitting, could be left out.

Not sure where the point is being missed about the private jet. Perhaps this will make it clearer...

If a person makes their wealth legitimately they are entitled to the money and how they choose to spend it is their choice.

If they made they money illegitimately, the money is not theirs and they should be allowed to have a private jet.

Still in disagreement? If so, lets leave this because its really not worth our time and energy.

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Adrian in Vancouver

I think it is the point about the airplane. If he just sat on the money and it was in the bank, would it be any different? I guess, what we should fixate on is that society comes around to justice and if anyone makes anything illegally, that personal receives the due penalties from the legal system. It is immaterial how much money the guy has left or what he does with it, as long as the justice system runs its course. I think we're in agreement about justice being done. Whether the money gets squandered in airplane fuel, or get squandered partying or gets squandered on bad stocks on wall street, is kind of irrelevant.

UCI continued to aid him. They never sent his biopassport blood values to be evaluated despite acknowledging that they had suspected him of doping as far back as 2000. It's hard to get caught when you're not investigated.


Nonetheless, at the Tour, Armstrong put himself in an early hole by losing one minute to a crash in stage 3 and then crashed twice and lost significant time on stage 8. Any chance of winning was over for him at that point, and analysis of his biopassport data shows that he did not take his typical blood bag on the second rest day (as he did in 2009 and has admitted to in 1999-2005) so he had given up and his performance in the final week backs that up.

Another mistake Lance made was racing the 2009 Giro, and evidently without any transfusions, as this created biopassport data with diminishing RBC values that are consistent with what is expected of a human in a 3 week tour, and contrasts significantly with the 2009 TdF values where his blood is clearly re-infused on the rest days.

He lied during his mea culpa TV confession. That takes a special kind of person to lie while apologizing about lying. I can understand why he would not want to admit to doping past 2005, but then why even do a confession at all, if you know you will be forced into lying during the confession? When in a hole, stop digging, right?

No. He was always like that. Always. After he left triathlon he was mad as hell that Miles Stewart began getting "his" media attention.

Sparks wrote:

Does anyone know exactly what the DOJ's legal theories are? The DOJ may not be claiming straight-up breach of contract or fraud. Perhaps it's something along the lines violating federal law by submitting a false claim for payment to the US, in which case it may be that the DOJ does not need to prove that the US was damaged to get back the money. In other words, the US could get its money back, even if it benefited financially from the arrangement.

http://www.usatoday.com/...act-defense/1947651/

Interesting defense. When it comes to fraud, the statute of limitations begins to run on the day of discovery of the fraud or on the day that the defrauded party should have, through reasonable efforts, discovered the fraud. In other words, turning a blind eye to fraud does not mean you will be able to bring suit indefinitely.


LA will also have a good argument with waiver. If USPS knew of the doping, and therefore the breach of contract, but continued performing under the contract, then USPS waived the contractual requirement that LA and his team ride clean. With waiver of that contractual provision, USPS can not bring suit now. How will LA prove USPS's knowledge of doping? If no secretly recorded evidence or documentation, it comes down to he said, she said. But, if LA takes the stand, there goes his 5th !


I don't have experience with the False Claims Act. These are general contract principles under the common law. If this goes to trial and is televised, I'd bet that it's the most widely watched trial in U.S. history. Or at least here on ST.

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http://www.usatoday.com/...act-defense/1947651/
"Another issue the person said Armstrong's team will argue is the definition of a false claim itself. The person said Armstrong never entered into a contract with the USPS or the government, so he could not have submitted a false claim to them. The USPS contracts instead were with Tailwind Sports, the management company of Armstrong's cycling team. Tailwind also never certified that its riders wouldn't or didn't dope, the person said."

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Actually, only Armstrong's contract failed to include a specific anti-doping provision, an explicit omission and difference from all other Tailwind contracts that the government is claiming is evidence that Tailwind knew and approved that Armstrong used PEDs.

I didn't know that. Any good lawyer can easily argue that that fact evidences USPS' s knowledge. "You mean to tell me that you handed over $30M without verifying whether the the athlete (s), and specifically the team leader, were required to ride clean?"

Given the allegations of doping that surrounded LA beginning with his 1999 prologue win, after he couldnt even finish his previous TDF, it seems to me that USPS was wilfully blind and shouldve detected doping very early on.

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He still was contractually required to ride clean. There's plenty in the contract about abiding UCI rules. It's just that a standard sentence that existed in all other Tailwind riders' contracts specific to PEDs is not present in a contract renewal of Lance's with Tailwind, although the clause had been present in 1998 contract. 2000 renewal, I believe. Read the government filing, it's interesting.

x2

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