Jury: US Baseball Great Roger Clemens Not Guilty of Lying to Congress

Posted June 18th, 2012 at 5:35 pm (UTC-5)
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A U.S. federal jury has found legendary baseball star Roger Clemens not guilty on all charges of lying before Congress about his alleged use of steroids.

The jury deliberated 10 hours before finding the pitching great innocent of all six counts, including perjury and obstruction of Congress.

The 49 year-old Clemens struggled to hold back his tears, calling the five years since he pitched his last game “hard.”

Prosecutors say Clemens lied when he testified before Congress in 2008 that he never used illegal performance-enhancing drugs during his career.

His former trainer testified that he personally injected Clemens with drugs. The defense successfully convinced the jury that the trainer may have been lying.

This was Clemens' second perjury trial. The first ended in a mistrial.

Clemens played from 1984 until 2007 for four major league baseball teams — the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros. He won 354 games while losing just 184. Baseball fans consider him one of the greatest pitchers ever to play the game.