December 22, 2024 01:37 AM

Lance Armstrong Being Sued in Class-Action Lawsuit Over Doping Admission

Everybody knew that this day would come sooner rather than later-the day that Lance Armstrong, former cycling great and admitted dopiest would start getting sued.

First in the "let's get Lance" line are Rob Stutzman and Jonathan Wheeler-they both purchased Armstrong's books, It's Not About the Bike and Every Second Counts, and state, according to sportsworldreport.com, that they "would not have purchased the books had they known the true facts concerning Armstrong's misconduct and his admitted involvement in a sports doping scandal."

They have filed a class-action lawsuit claiming to feel "cheated" after Armstrong's illegal-drug-use confession to Oprah Winfrey last week.

"Both books have now been exposed as frauds," the plaintiffs said. "Armstrong now admits that without his use of banned performance enhancing drugs beginning in the mid-1990s, he would not have won and continued to win cycling races, including seven consecutive Tour de France races," according to sportsworldreport.com.

Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins, Armstrong's co-author, is not listed as a defendant in the suit.

Class-action suits are one thing, but if US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief executive Travis Tygart has his way, the disgraced cyclist would be on trial for Fraud.

Speaking to CBS, Tygart said, "The US justice department should join a fraud case against Armstrong."

He would also prefer that Armstrong testify in front of the USADA rather than the world cycling governing body (UCI).

"I think their involvement was a lot deeper in him pulling off this heist than he was willing to admit to." Tygart said.

There is a five-year statute on a fraud criminal charge, but Tygart feels that "if the last point of his doping, as we alleged and proved in our reasoned decision, was in 2010, then the statute has not yet expired and he potentially could be charged with a criminal violation for conspiracy to defraud."

He is certain that a jury would swing his way, "I think a jury should have an opportunity to decide whether the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that were defrauded by this team and Lance Armstrong and his associates, whether or not the government should be paid back for that."

When it comes to payoff denial, Tygart states, he has evidence refuting Armstrong's story.

"I received a phone call from one of his closest associates and they offered us the money," Tygart said, refusing to identify the middleman, but adamantly declaring that "there was no mistake about the attempt to pay USADA to back off."

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