By PAUL ELIAS Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Olympic gold medalist Antonio Pettigrew was identified Friday in government court documents as a user of illegal and banned performance-enhancing drugs.
The gold medalist in the 4×400 relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics is one of seven elite athletes once trained by Trevor Graham who are scheduled to testify their former coach set them up with performance-enhancing drugs, according to the prosecutors’ filing.
Graham’s trial is scheduled to start May 19 in U.S. District Court in Northern California.
Graham has pleaded not guilty to making false statements when he told investigators he never obtained drugs from a Laredo, Texas weightlifter, Angel ”Memo” Heredia. Heredia is scheduled to testify he and Graham had numerous telephone conversations about drugs.
According to the prosecutors’ filing, Pettigrew will testify he ”obtained and used illegal and banned performance-enhancing drugs from Heredia with the defendant’s knowledge.”
Prosecutors placed 17 people on their witness list, including Calvin Harrison and Jerome Young, who won gold medals as teammates in the 1,600 meter relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Young later was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive a year before the games and was banned for life in 2004 after testing positive for EPO, and Harrison was banned for two years for doping. Both sprinters will testify Graham helped them obtain performance-enhancing drugs, according to federal prosecutors.
Graham’s former runners Duane Ross, Garfield Ellenwood, Michelle Collins and Dennis Mitchell also are scheduled to testify that their coach helped and encouraged them to obtain banned substances.
Collins and Mitchell _ won gold with the U.S. 4×100 relay team at the 1992 Olympics and bronze in the 100, as well as a 4×100 relay silver medal at Atlanta in 1996 _ also have served doping bans.
In addition, Randall Evans will testify he traveled to Texas with Graham to meet Heredia.
The government does not intend to call Graham’s most famous athletes, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, but both disgraced runners still will loom large at Graham’s trial.
Jones is currently serving a six-month prison sentence after admitting she lied to federal investigators about her drug use. Montgomery was indicted this week on heroin distribution charges.
”Mr. Heredia will testify that the defendant contacted him prior to the 2000 Olympics and specifically inquired about obtaining such illegal banned substances for Marion Jones,” the prosecutors’ filing stated. Prosecutors say Heredia gave Graham the drug EPO, a banned oxygen-booster, so the coach could give Jones the drugs before the 2000 Olympics.
Graham’s attorneys have asked a judge to prohibit that testimony because the coach is only charged with lying about his relationship with Heredia. Graham’s attorney William Keane didn’t return a telephone call late Friday.

Lindsey O'Neill is the Director of Legal Content and Business Development at LawInfo.com. In addition to her role at LawInfo, she is an attorney in private practice based in La Jolla, California, counseling businesses on a wide variety of legal and business matters. Ms. O'Neill is also general counsel for Naturally Modern, LLC, a design firm focused on modern furnishings and accessories for an indoor-outdoor lifestyle.
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