SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors may be pursuing a perjury case against San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, CNN reported.
Citing multiple sources, CNN said a case against Bonds could stem from his denials of steroid use when he testified before a federal grand jury in 2003.
A different federal grand jury has been hearing evidence for more than a month about whether Bonds may have committed perjury, CNN said. The U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Harry Stern, a spokesman for Bonds' legal team told CNN his lawyers were unaware that a grand jury had been convened.
Bonds, who is chasing Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth for the big-league baseball career home run record, has consistently denied he knowingly used steroids. He was one of several athletes called to testify in an investigation into BALCO, the San Francisco Bay Area laboratory accused of distributing steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has appointed former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell to lead an investigation into use of performance-enhancing drugs by players.
The book "Game of Shadows" alleges Bonds took performance-enhancing drugs for five years, beginning in 1998.
