Russell May Be Banned Again

PHOENIX, Ariz., Aug. 21. THE Cecil Russell saga continues to gain momentum according to another report by Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star earlier this week. After breaking the news that Russell may have lied about being exonerated in an ecstasy ring, the Star followed up with another article explaining that Russell may face another lifetime ban.

According to the Star, the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport will ask adjudicator Graeme Mew, who reinstated the controversial Oakville swim coach, to reopen the case because of the Star’s report that he appears to have lied about being exonerated in an ecstasy trafficking case.

According to Starkman, Paul Melia, chief executive officer of the CCES, said if Mew decides he does not have the power to reopen the case, the center will look at going to court for an injunction.

"This is evidence that should have been considered by the independent adjudicator when he made his decision last year," Melia said. "I have requested that our lawyer start the application process immediately."

Russell's lawyer Gary Boyd declined to comment to Starkman.

According to the Star, Russell convinced Mew at his hearing last fall that he'd been cleared of involvement in a major ecstasy ring planning to ship about $15 million worth of the drugs from Europe through Canada into the U.S.

According to Starkman reports, newly unsealed court documents show that in the U.S. District Court in Arizona, Russell pleaded guilty in September 2003 to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute ecstasy and was sentenced to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. When news that Russell was claiming he'd been exonerated reached the U.S. Attorney's office in Arizona, officials went before a judge to have the record of his conviction unsealed.

According to the Star, Ann Harwood, acting public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, said yesterday they did not want Russell to be able to use the fact his judgment was sealed to misrepresent what occurred.

"We had it unsealed because that's what we heard he was saying," Harwood said.

According to Starkman, the unsealing of Russell's criminal judgment came as a surprise as several Canadian sporting bodies investigating Russell had attempted to access his records in Arizona — among them the CCES and Swimming Canada — but were stymied because they've been under wraps since Oct. 30, 2003. It's believed his cooperation with authorities investigating his co-conspirators in the drug ring helped get them sealed. His case was tried in Arizona because that was the destination of many of the drug shipments.

According to the Star, one option the CCES will examine is whether the newly unsealed judgment constitutes a new doping offence for Russell. Ecstasy is on the list of drugs banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Russell was originally banned for life from coaching in Canada in 1997 after his conviction for steroid trafficking. He was the kingpin in an international ring that grossed about $1 million per year.

"It might be more appropriate for the CCES to see whether or not the new code is applicable and whether a new case should be brought as opposed to the arbitrator reopening the case or getting a court to have an arbitrator review it," said Dr. Peter Vizsolyi, a vice-president of the Canadian Swim Coaches and Teachers Association, one of the groups that opposed Russell's reinstatement at his hearing.

According to Starkman, complicating matters for the CCES is that this is an unprecedented case, and that Russell was originally suspended for life for steroid trafficking under rules from 1994; the rules have since been revised.

"This is something we never anticipated, where an adjudicator could render a decision and following that, new information came to light that may have been material to the decision being made," Melia said. "We're also dealing with a set of rules that existed at the time but no longer exists today."

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