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Texan Is Charged With Providing Banned Drugs to Olympians

Texan Is Charged With Providing Banned Drugs to Olympians

A Texas man is the first to be charged in an Olympics doping case under a new U.S. law that criminalizes banned performance-enhancing drugs in international competitions.

Eric Lira, 41, a “naturopathic therapist” from El Paso, was arrested Wednesday and accused of distributing drugs to at least two competitors ahead of the Games last year in Tokyo. A description of one of the athletes by federal prosecutors in New York suggests it may be the Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare.

“Hola amigo / Eric my body feel so good,” the athlete said to Lira by encrypted messaging on June 22, according to prosecutors. “I just ran 10.63 in the 100m on Friday / with a 2.7 wind / I am sooooo happy / Ericccccccc / Whatever you did, is working so well.” 

In response, prosecutors said, Lira told the athlete what she had taken would help her in coming events.

“You will be ready to dominate,” he said, according to the U.S.

Russian Whistle-Blower

Lira has been charged with violating the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, a 2020 U.S. law against knowingly influencing a major international sporting competition through the use of a prohibited substance or method. The law is named after Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Russia’s anti-doping laboratory, who fled to the U.S. after blowing the whistle on a massive state-run program that led to the country’s exclusion from the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“At a moment that the Olympic Games offered a poignant reminder of international connections in the midst of a global pandemic that had separated communities and countries for over a year ... Eric Lira schemed to debase that moment by peddling illegal drugs,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. 

Lira, who faces as many as 10 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge, was in custody Wednesday and didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent through LinkedIn. He appeared before a magistrate judge in El Paso without an attorney via videoconference and was held pending a detention hearing scheduled for next week.

Okagbare, who isn’t charged in the complaint, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on it.

Smuggled Drugs

Prosecutors claim Lira obtained misbranded drugs, including human growth hormone and erythropoietin, from Central and South America, smuggled them into the U.S. and distributed them to two or more Olympic athletes. 

One was suspended in July from Olympic competition after a blood test taken in Slovakia, where she was training, showed the presence of human growth hormone the same day she was scheduled to compete in the women’s 100-meter semifinal, they said. 

While they didn’t name the athletes, Okagbare is facing three charges from an independent anti-doping body, the Athletics Integrity Unit, stemming partly from a positive test for human growth hormone in Slovakia announced on the day of the 100-meter semifinal. AIU has said Okagbare denies the charges.

The criminal case is U.S. v. Lira, 21-mj-12412, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.