French legend Jeannie Longo’s husband faces criminal trial over EPO purchases

Jeannie Longo’s husband faces criminal trial over EPO purchases

Investigating magistrates conclude that Patrice Ciprelli bought banned drug online

Patrcie Ciprelli, the husband of former world and Olympic champion Jeannie Longo, faces a criminal trial in France for illegally buying and importing EPO following an investigation lasting five years.

Two magistrates in Grenoble who have been investigating the case have referred it to a criminal court after concluding that the 61-year-old  made a number of online purchases of the banned substance, reports Le Dauphiné Libéré.

http://www.ledauphine.com/sport/2016/05/21/le-mari-de-jeannie-longo-renv...

The magistrates, Michel Mollin and Nicolas Josué, said: “The investigation shows that Mr Ciprelli took a number of precautions when buying these products and tried to conceal the fact, and that even today he persists in denying it through explanations that are not credible and are certainly pure fantasy despite overwhelming evidence.”

They referred Ciprelli to a criminal court for his “involvement in the fraudulent importing of banned prohibited goods, namely doping products (EPO)” from the period 14 September 2008 and 14 September 2011, the latter date being when their probe began.

The magistrates said that they had identified eight orders made by Ciprelli for EPO during that time through an American website, paid for by credit cards in his name or that of his wife and delivered to a friend or to his mother. The total amount of the orders was $9,363.

They said they had been unable to establish whether athletes trained by Ciprelli, including his wife – winner of 59 French national titles, 13 world championships and one Olympic gold medal – had doped.

While adding that there were “suspicions of doping” against the 57-year-old due to “her exceptional sporting performances and the particular longevity” of her career, they emphasised that their investigations had not established “irrefutable proof of doping.”