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Verdict expected in steroid case of ex-AFA linebacker
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
The Denver Post
Air Force Academy - A military judge will announce today whether a
former linebacker for the Air Force Falcons football team is guilty
of illegal use and possession of anabolic steroids.
Overton Spence Jr., 20, testified during a court-martial Tuesday
that he never intended to use illegal steroids. He said he thought
the small white pills he used in the summer of 2003 were legal,
performance-enhancing supplements.
If convicted, Spence, a junior, faces up to 10 years in prison. He
admitted that he bought 120 pills for $100 from another cadet in
January 2003.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations launched a probe in
March. Pills found in Spence's room tested positive for
methandrostenolone, a Schedule III controlled substance.
Falcons football coach Fisher DeBerry testified that Spence and Matt
Ward, a running back who also faces charges of wrongful use of
steroids, told him in March of the OSI probe. DeBerry said Spence
was adamant he had taken legal supplements.
Cadet found innocent
September 01, 2004
Robert Weller
AP
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force linebacker Overton Spence was
found innocent of drug charges Wednesday after telling a court-martial he
thought the steroids he had taken were legal.
Spence wept and hugged teammate Jon Wilson when the verdict was read. He
declined to speak to reporters, but his civilian attorney, Serge
Herscovici, said Spence hopes to return to the academy football team.
Prosecutor Capt. Garrett Condon had accused Spence of engaging in "a
locker room drug deal" that went bad.
Spence had signed a statement admitting he bought and used the steroid
methandrostenolone but testified that he did not know he had broken the
law.
"I never intended to possess or had knowledge of possession of illegal
steroids. I only intended to possess legal steroids that you could buy" in
any health specialty store, Spence said.
His defense lawyers accused investigators of jumping to conclusions and
interrogating Spence before lab tests showed the steroid was illegal.
Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry testified that when Spence told him he was
being investigated, the cadet said he thought the supplements were legal.
"He maintained his total innocence as to his not knowing what he was
taking," DeBerry said.
Spence, 20, was a backup who played mostly on special teams last season.
He was suspended from the team after the charges were filed. It was not
immediately clear whether he would be reinstated.
Herscovici said Spence could face a one-year suspension from the NCAA.
Spence, a junior, faced up to 10 years' imprisonment if he had been
convicted.
Three other cadets, including running back Matthew Ward, still face
steroid charges.
Update: Air Force cadet found innocent on steroid charges
By Todd Jacobson
The Gazette
September 01, 2004
Air Force football player Overton Spence Jr., one of four cadets
charged with steroid-related violations, was acquitted of all
charges Wednesday after his court-martial.
Spence, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., faced 10 years
confinement, dismissal from the academy and forfeiture of all pay
and allowances after he was charged with wrongful use and possession
of an anabolic steroid.
However, defense lawyers successfully argued that Spence did not
know he was purchasing an illegal steroid when he bought pills from
a former football player at the academy last January and used them
last June.
Following the verdict by judge Kurt Schuman, Spence hugged defense
lawyer Serge Herscovici, then cried as he hugged his mother,
Thomasena Denson, while several of his former teammates from the
football team looked on from the audience.
“He is not a criminal of any sort,” Denson said after the verdict.
“This is a good man here. I didn’t raise a statistic and this court
didn’t find him as one.”
Spence would not comment after the verdict.
Another cadet faces steroid charges
By Laura M. Colarusso
Air Force Times
September, 2004
Air Force academy officials have charged a senior cadet with steroid violations.
Cadet Christopher Min is charged with using anabolic steroids. A trial date has
not been set, according to an academy news release.
If convicted, Min faces a maximum five-year prison sentence. Min is the fifth
cadet in recent months to face steroid charges. Last week, Overton Spence, 20,
a junior linebacker on the football team, was found not guilty of possessing
and using methandrostenolone. His teammate Matthew Ward, also a junior, is
expected to go to trial Wednesday for possessing and using the same substance.
Two other cadets, seniors Jonathan Belkowitz and Eric Schwartz, have also been
charged with distributing steroids, but officials would not say which drugs were
involved.
The academy announced Monday that Spence would begin practicing with the team
immediately.
Spence, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker and special teams player from Jacksonville,
Fla., admitted using the steroid methandrostenolone during his trial but said he
did not know it was illegal.
He said he had briefly used the drug last year when he feared a grueling academy
survival course would leave him underweight for the football season. Spence was one
of five cadets charged with illegal steroid use based on an investigation earlier
this year.
The academy statement said Spence’s eligibility to play was being confirmed with
the NCAA. Last week the organization said that since Spence had never tested
positive for steroids, which would result in a mandatory year’s suspension, it
was up to the academy whether he should play.
[Link]
Trial postponed for academy football player charged with steroid abuse
By Laura M. Colarusso
Air Force Times
September 09, 2004
A continuance was granted in the court-martial of junior Air Force Academy cadet Matthew Ward.
He will go to trial Sept. 15.
Ward, a football player, is charged with using and possessing anabolic steroids. He was scheduled to stand trial Sept. 8.
Prosecutors requested the delay to accommodate a key witness, an agent from the Office of Special Investigation, who
had to take leave because of a family emergency.
Ward pleaded not guilty during a Sept. 8 arraignment. If convicted of the charges, the running back faces 10 years
in prison.
Ward is the second football player to face a court-martial for steroid violations since the 2004 school year began.
Teammate Overton Spence was found not guilty of the same charges earlier this month. Spence testified that he didn’t
know the pills he was taking were steroids.
Three other cadets who aren’t on the football team have also been charged with steroid-related violations.
[Link]
Air Force player found not guilty in steroid case
BY MERI-JO BORZILLERI
Fri, Sep. 17, 2004
The Gazette
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - (KRT) - A jury declared Air Force Academy
football player Matthew Ward not guilty of anabolic steroid use and
possession in a court-martial Friday at the academy.
After more than three hours of deliberation, the jury of six
military officers determined the prosecution failed to prove, beyond
a reasonable doubt, that Ward knew he was taking an illegal
substance in methandrostenolone, an anabolic steroid.
Ward said he took the substance when trying to keep from losing
weight during Combat Survival Training in June 2003.
Ward, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior running back, said he believed
he was taking supplements after he bought 100 pills for $100 from a
former teammate.
Ward, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the second Air Force player to
be cleared in related steroid cases. Linebacker Overton Spence was
also found not guilty of the same charges in a Sept.1 court-martial
decision. Spence was reinstated to the football team last week.
In Ward's case, a guilty verdict required at least four of the six
jurors to side with the prosecution. Ward faced 10 years'
confinement, dismissal from the academy and forfeiture of all pay
and allowances.
Ward closed his eyes when the verdict was read. He then bowed his
head and wept briefly.
"It's a big relief off my shoulders and my parents' shoulders," Ward
said later. "I've been waiting for this for nine months."
The trial lasted four days. Ward's parents, Walter and Marvis, were
in the courtroom Friday.
"This has been the worst experience thus far in my life," said
Ward's mother, Marvis. "I'm so thankful that the jurors saw through
to the truth."
Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry testified on Ward's behalf Thursday.
"We're happy and relieved for Matt and his family," DeBerry said in
a statement. "He'll be welcomed back to the football program pending
administrative clearance by the academy."
In closing arguments, lead prosecutor Maj. Joseph Imburgia argued
Ward admitted to investigators he knew the pills were illegal and
his behavior showed it.
"He didn't buy them from GNC, didn't buy them from a health food
store, didn't get them from 24-Hour Fitness," Imburgia said. He got
them from "a locker-room deal."
"Use your common sense here," he said. "Does that sound like a deal
for a legal substance?"
Defense attorney William Muhr said Ward told investigators he used
the steroid but nowhere in their notes did it say he knew the
substance was illegal.
Muhr also argued that investigators themselves did not know that
steroids can be legal or illegal.
"Their focus in my view was not to get the truth of the matter, it
was to get a conviction right from the beginning," Muhr said.
Air Force cadets Eric M. Swartz and Jonathan Belkowitz also await
court-martials on steroid-related violations. A third cadet,
Christopher Min, awaits a decision on his case.
[Link]
Second academy steroid case opens can of worms
Laura M. Colarusso
Air Force Times
September 27, 2004
The trial of a second Air Force Academy football player charged with using steroids has produced more questions
than answers — and seen the recant of key testimony given in the acquittal of another football player on similar charges.
Investigators say Matthew Ward admitted he knew the steroids he took were illegal. Ward disputes that, and his
attorney said during opening statements the junior running back was unaware he was taking a prohibited substance.
Ward has said he briefly took the steroids because he was afraid he would lose weight during the academy’s survival
training course.
Still, Judge Maj. Barbara Shestko denied the defense’s request to throw out Ward’s statement to investigators as evidence.
Then, on Sept. 15, Kenneth Van Cleave, an official with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, recanted testimony given
at the first steroid trial.
Van Cleave had testified during Overton Spence’s Aug. 31 court-martial that there are legal and illegal steroids. But
during Ward’s trial, Van Cleave said he may have been wrong.
Spence, a junior linebacker, was found not guilty of possessing and using an anabolic steroid. He admitted taking the
drug, but also denied knowing the substance was illegal.
Spence’s lawyer, Serge Herscovici, said his client got the steroid from another Falcon football player, but never asked
the cadet what the drug was because they had cost less than protein shakes.
“My client … thought [the cadet] was trustworthy,” Herscovici said. “He thought they were legal supplements.”
Spence testified Sept. 16 at Ward’s trial that Ward did not know methandrostenolone was illegal until investigators
informed him.
Ward is charged with possessing and using steroids. If convicted, he faces a maximum punishment of 10 years and
dismissal from the Air Force.
Falcon head coach Fisher DeBerry also testified, saying Ward told him he was taking supplements.
“I think he is an outstanding young man,” DeBerry said of Ward, according to The Associated Press.
DeBerry said Ward did not show any signs such as aggression and increased strength that would indicate he had
taken steroids. Dean Campbell, the team’s running back coach, agreed that Ward did not show any outward signs of
steroid use.
Both Ward and Spence were suspended from the team when the allegations surfaced. Spence has since been reinstated.
Three other cadets have been charged with steroid-related violations.
Senior Jonathan Belkowitz, a cheerleader, was charged with importing, intending to distribute and using steroids, and
making false statements to investigators. He faces 55 years in prison if convicted.
Senior Eric Schwartz was charged with distributing steroids and using codeine. He could receive a 65-year maximum sentence.
Another senior, Christopher Min, was charged with steroid use, which carries with it a five-year prison sentence.
It is unclear whether there is a link between the Spence, Ward, Belkowitz, Schwartz and Min cases.
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
