They accused. He denied. More accused. He denied more. Now a jury will decide the truth about Raleigh's once celebrated and now embattled track coach, Trevor Graham.

Was the former St. Augustine's College runner a gifted teacher who groomed Olympic gold medalists? Or was he a manipulator who used performance-enhancing drugs to produce tainted champions?

Jury selection in Graham's federal trial is set to begin Monday in San Francisco. He is charged with three counts of making false statements to federal investigators about his ties to a Texas man who says he provided Graham with performance-enhancing drugs.

As the trial unfolds, witnesses are likely to talk about the use and distribution of performance-enhancing drugs by others in track and field, making accusations that could further stain the sport's image. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency will send a representative to observe the entire trial.

New investigations based on testimony at the trial could develop.

More attention to doping comes at a vulnerable time for track and field, which is about to enter the spotlight of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Michael S. Straubel, a Valparaiso University law school professor, said the testimony in Graham's case could further sour the casual fan's taste for the maligned sport.

"Whether some of this stuff is true or not, I have a feeling that a lot of mud is going to be thrown around at the trial," he said. "A lot of names coming out, a lot of names of people accused of doing this and doing that."

Recriminations ahead

Indeed, Graham appears intent on using the trial as a stage for accusing others. He could not be reached for comment this week, but last month he told The Washington Post:

"There's going to be a lot of publicity on a lot of people's parts who did a lot of things behind closed doors. ... Now it's all going to be dragged out in front of the whole world. It's going to embarrass the United States, and it's going to embarrass these athletes."

Graham, founder of the Raleigh-based Sprint Capitol track club, built an international reputation for training some of the world's fastest men and women. During workouts conducted at N.C. State University's Paul Derr Track, he prepared Marion Jones to win five Olympic medals in 2000, coached Tim Montgomery when he set a 100-meter world record and guided sprinters Justin Gatlin and Shawn Crawford to Olympic gold medals in 2004.

But throughout his rise, Graham, 44, was shadowed by allegations that he encouraged doping and provided drugs to his athletes. Many of them, including Jones, Montgomery and Gatlin, were later suspended for doping.

Graham has denied any link to banned substances, but he will now face a parade of his former athletes who are expected to testify otherwise.

Credibility is crucial

Graham's trial will revolve around whether he lied to federal agents about his relationship with a Laredo, Texas, drug distributor, Angel "Memo" Heredia. According to court documents, Heredia will testify that he provided Graham with "illegal and banned performance enhancing drugs" and "provided such drugs to several athletes who were referred to [him] by the defendant."

Graham's attorney, William Patrick Keane, could not be reached for comment. But in a motion he filed in the case, Keane pointed to his likely defense -- attacking Heredia's credibility:

"Graham's defense is built around showing that Heredia's contradictory accusations against Graham are not true and merely an effort to attempt to divert attention from his illicit drug dealings."

If convicted, Graham could face up to 15 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. The trial is expected to take seven days or less.

The trial is an outgrowth of a federal investigation into athletes linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, or BALCO. The Burlingame, Calif., nutritional supplement company provided drugs to athletes in several professional sports.

Graham will be only the second person to stand trial in a BALCO case. The first, former cyclist Tammy Thomas, was convicted in April of lying to a grand jury. Eight others facing BALCO-related charges have entered plea agreements. Home-run king Barry Bonds, indicted on charges of lying to a grand jury investigating BALCO, is awaiting trial.

The investigation that will bring Graham into the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston was fueled largely by Graham's own attempt to expose doping. In 2003, he anonymously sent the USADA a syringe filled with a previously undetectable designer steriod. Graham said that he turned in the drug to help clean up track and field, but others contend that he was trying to hurt rival track camps.

Court records indicate that the government may call Antonio Pettigrew, an assistant track coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a former St. Aug's runner and world champion in the 400 meters. He won a gold medal in the 1,600-meter relay at the 2000 Olympics. Other athletes such as Jerome Young, Duane Ross, Garfield Ellenwood and Dennis Mitchell, along with Sprint Capitol assistant coach Randall Evans, are listed on the prosecution's exhibit list and could be called to testify against their former coach.

7 athletes may testify

Graham has been charged with three counts of making false statements to federal agents Jeff Novitzky and Erwin Rogers. They interviewed him in Raleigh on June 8, 2004, at a law office on Glenwood Avenue. Graham was accompanied during the interview by his wife, Ann, a former hurdler at St. Aug's and now a Wake County sheriff's deputy.

Reached at his office last week, Jeffrey R. Finigan of the U.S. Attorney's Office said he had no comment about the coming trial. Yet it's clear from the prosecution's exhibit list that the government intends to use testimony from as many as seven former athletes that Graham coached to make its case that he made false statements about his relationship with Heredia, the Texas drug distributor.

Over the years, at least 10 of Graham's former athletes have been suspended for using banned substances. Graham has been banned from U.S. Olympic Committee training facilities.

'It's so tarnished now'

This week's trial will focus on Graham and the charges he faces, yet the focus outside the courtroom will turn to the reputation of track. Observers such as Penn State sports historian Mark Dyreson wonder how far-reaching and damaging the testimony might be.

"I think at this point it's fairly clear that the corruption was fairly widely spread," Dyreson said. "The trial of no one single figure is going to restore the reputation quickly of track and field. I think it's so tarnished now that it's going to take a while to rehabilitate the sport."

Can the testimony be helpful for the sport? It's a question Straubel, who is director of Valparaiso's Sports Law Clinic and the school's cross country coach, has contemplated. His clinic represents Michelle Collins, a former Graham athlete who has been sanctioned by the USADA for a positive drug test and is trying to be reinstated.

"Ultimately, it's going to be helpful because it'll clean things up and help prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future," Straubel said. "But in the short run? No. Especially with the Olympics coming up, it's going to cause everybody to think, well, if it was happening then, it must still be happening now."

Travis Tygart, the USADA's chief executive officer, said he would not directly comment on Graham's case, though he spoke about the current state of the sport and efforts to eliminate performance-enhancing substances.

"We've worked diligently and in cooperation with the federal government to use all of our authority to return the playing field to clean athletes," he said. "Through our efforts in the BALCO investigation, which I think to date has led to 15-plus sanctions being put against athletes or coaches ... we firmly believe we have changed the culture."

(Sunday editor Ned Barnett and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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