Guards investigated for signed baseballs

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marshals service says it is investigating security guards from the Washington federal courthouse who received sign baseballs from Roger Clemens.

Marshals are inquiring into why six autographed baseballs were sent to the security guards by someone on Clemens' legal team, The Washington Post reported.

"The investigation is ongoing but preliminary results indicate that up to six baseballs were given to a contracted court security officer and were distributed among four or five other court security officers," the marshals service said in a statement.

The baseballs, received shortly after a judge declared a mistrial in Clemens' perjury case July 14, are worth between $100 and $400 each, depending upon their condition.

Lawyers say the potential thank-you gifts came at the wrong time.

"It would have been more prudent to wait until the case was completely over," said Steven Levin, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. "I don't know what the rush was to do it."

The security guards could face dismissal, should the investigation prove any misconduct.