A Texas man admitted to providing performance-enhancing drugs to Olympic athletes before the 2021 games in Tokyo, becoming the first person convicted of a new anti-doping law.
Eric Lira, 43, a so-called “kinesiologist and naturopathic doctor” from El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, which bars knowingly influencing major international sporting competition through the use of a prohibited substance or method, the US Justice Department said.
The law, passed in 2021, was named for former Russian anti-doping laboratory head Grigory Rodchenkov, who fled the country after revealing a state-run program that led to the exclusion of Russian athletes from the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Prosecutors claim Lira obtained misbranded drugs, including human growth hormone and erythropoietin, from Central and South America, smuggled them into the US and distributed them to two or more Olympic athletes — one of whom was later suspended from the competition.
The government didn’t identify the athletes who obtained the drugs from Lira, but the Athletics Integrity Unit, a independent anti-doping body, said they were Nigerian sprinters Blessing Okagbare, who is serving an 11-year ban, and Divine Oduduru, who is facing a potential six-year ban.
While Lira faces as much as 10 years in prison when he is sentenced, he agreed to federal guidelines that call for him to serve 12 to 18 months behind bars as part of a deal with prosecutors. He will forfeit more than $16,000 as part of the agreement.
The case is US v. Lira, 22-cr-151, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
