US Govt sues Armstrong

Written by Charit Tissera
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Category: international
Published: 26 February 2013
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The United States Government had sued Lance Armstrong, for allegedly defrauding the US Postal Service by accepting sponsorship money and then taking banned performance-enhancing drugs, it was revealed. 

According to Agency reports, the US Government has joined the civil suit against Armstrong, following a letter of request which had been reportedly written by Travis Tygart, the chief executive of USADA, to the US Attorney General Eric Holder on January 14, urging him to join the civil case and telling Holder that "fraud and other crimes were committed" by Armstrong and other members of his former US Postal Service teams.

Along with Armstrong, the suit also names his agent, Bill Stapleton, Stapleton's agency and the cycling team's management company, Tailwind Sports. 

In a special statement to the media, Ronald Machen, the US Attorney for Washington, D.C. said, "This lawsuit is designed to help the Postal Service recoup the tens of millions of dollars it paid out to the Tailwind cycling team based on years of broken promises."

The government statement also reveals that the sponsorship money totalled more than $30 million.

However, Armstrong’s lawyer Robert Luskin had said the postal service was not actually damaged and confirmed that Armstrong would contest the suit. "The Postal Service's own studies show that the service benefited tremendously from its sponsorship - benefits totalling more than $100 million (£66 million/€76 million)," the lawyer said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Armstrong is currently facingseveral other suits arising out of his admission of cheating. 

Marketing firm SCA Promotions Inc. alleged in a Texas state court in February 2013 that the cyclist defrauded it of $12 million in bonuses plus interest.Armstrong is already being sued by The Sunday Times for £1 million ($1.6 million) after he successfully won a libel action against them nine years ago following an article written by David Walsh.

The one-time cycling legend Lance Armstrong, was stripped off his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from cycling last year after the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) found him guilty of using drugs for most of his career. 

In a television interview with Oprah Winfrey, that was broadcast on January 17 and 18, he admitted using banned drugs during all seven of his Tour de France victories.

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