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Tuesday, Jul 18, 2006
Posted on Tue, Jul. 18, 2006
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Shortt gets jail; players not off hook

NFL athletes' statements under scrutiny; doctor sentenced to 1 year, 1 day

By RICK BRUNDRETT
rbrundrett@thestate.com
Dr. James Shortt, third from left, is surrounded by supporters Monday as he leaves court.
GERRY MELENDEZ/GMELENDEZ@THESTATE.COM
Dr. James Shortt, third from left, is surrounded by supporters Monday as he leaves court.
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U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd left open the possibility Monday of charges against NFL players linked to a former West Columbia physician who illegally prescribed steroids for them.

Lloyd said after Dr. James Shortt’s sentencing that he will “review everything that was discussed with these athletes.”

But he offered no timetable and made no commitment to seek charges against any of the at least eight NFL players prosecutors say received “performance-enhancing” drugs.

“Do we want to start using those users to send messages?” said Lloyd, who became the state’s top federal prosecutor in March. “We normally don’t do that with crack or steroids or anything else. We normally go after the bigger fish, and that’s what we did here.”

Prosecutors in court also disclosed that another former Carolina Panthers player — Louis Williams — received steroids from Shortt. In all, at least seven former Panthers have been linked to the case.

Shortt, 59, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day in federal prison. The extra day allows time to be shaved off his sentence for good behavior.

Chief U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson said Shortt could be released after 10½ months.

Anderson allowed Shortt to begin his sentence after his expected appeals and agreed to recommend that he serve his time in federal prison in California, where he lives. Lloyd said afterward any appeal of the sentence or conviction likely would take at least a year.

In giving Shortt a stiffer sentence than the zero-to-six-month range recommended by the U.S. Probation Office, Anderson said Shortt showed “a lack of remorse” in his statements before sentencing.

Although he admitted to the crime, Shortt told Anderson he believed the drugs he provided were “somewhat equivalent” to medications used to repair injuries.

“At no time was my intention to hurt anyone,” he said in a brief statement. “My intention was to help them to attain their goals.”

Anderson said he was bothered by Shortt’s “repeated efforts to conceal the wrongdoing,” such as prescribing steroids that couldn’t be detected in NFL drug tests.

“This court cannot ignore the controversy surrounding the use of steroids by professional athletes,” Anderson said, without identifying any players. “Records and accomplishments are called into question.”

Shortt, who declined comment after the hearing, was facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In exchange for his March plea to a charge of conspiring to distribute steroids and human growth hormones, prosecutors dismissed 42 counts of distributing the drugs.

Federal public defender Allen Burnside said his client, who lost his medical licenses in South Carolina and Wisconsin, is unemployed and has a net worth of about $22,000.

Shortt’s father, one of his grown sons and several patients spoke on his behalf during the hearing. One patient, state Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, described him as a “great man” who boosted his once-sagging energy levels with vitamin treatments.

Burnside questioned why prosecutors had not charged any NFL players, claiming the government’s focus on Shortt “has the appearance of making him the scapegoat.”

“They (prosecutors) should have been really doing the opposite in this case if they really wanted to make a point,” he said.

It is illegal to possess steroids without a valid medical reason.

Burnside cited audiotaped conversations in which Shortt discussed performance-enhancing drugs with former Panthers center Jeff Mitchell, former tight end Wesley Walls and former punter Todd Sauerbrun.

Former Panthers offensive tackle Todd Steussie, former defensive lineman John Milemand retired guard Kevin Donnalley also have been linked to Shortt.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Holliday said NFL players routinely went to Shortt even though “millions of dollars, careers and reputations were at stake.”

“There was no fear on the part of these players that they would get caught,” he said.

Lloyd said after the hearing that most of Shortt’s patients who received steroids were not football players. He said his office had good reason to focus on Shortt.

“It’s not against the law to violate NFL rules,” he said. “It is against the law to prescribe these steroids for nonmedical reasons. That’s what he was doing.”

Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484.