Eric Lira, a Texas therapist, could face up to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty on Monday for providing performance-enhancing drugs to Olympic athletes, including Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare.
Lira was convicted under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, which was introduced in 2020 after the state-backed doping scandal of Russia.
The law allows US authorities to prosecute individuals involved in international doping fraud conspiracies.
The therapist, who describes himself as a “naturopathic” practitioner, supplied the banned substances to Okagbare in the lead-up to the 2021 pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.
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The Nigerian athlete was banned from sports for ten years after testing positive for human growth hormone. She was expelled from the Olympics in Tokyo just before the women’s 100m semi-finals.
Lira’s sentence will be determined by a judge at a later date, according to the US Department of Justice.
The case marks a “watershed moment for international sport,” said US Attorney Damian Williams, who noted that Lira’s conviction was made possible by the recently enacted law.