A Baltimore County man who has been implicated by the Web site The Smoking Gun as a key informant in baseball's steroid scandal has denied any association with the federal government's investigation into illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
In an exclusive interview with The Baltimore Sun yesterday, Andrew Michael "Mike" Bogdan admitted to helping the FBI in a real-estate fraud case as part of a plea agreement. But he said he did not use his close friendship with former Orioles outfielder Larry Bigbie to assist the FBI in nabbing one of baseball's primary steroid distributors.
"It sounds like Mike Bogdan single-handedly was bringing down Major League Baseball," said Bogdan, while sitting in his rowhome in the Eastwood area of Dundalk. "I just had the pleasure of being friends with Larry Bigbie."
Bogdan, 43, an unemployed property manager, said he never used or ordered steroids for himself or anyone else and that the Internet report on his involvement in the case was "totally absurd."
The Smoking Gun reported Wednesday that Bogdan participated in a federal sting that led the FBI to Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse attendant who admitted to supplying anabolic steroids and human growth hormone to players throughout the major leagues.
The story suggests Bogdan used his friendship with Bigbie, whom he met in 2003 at a Canton bar, to contact Radomski. The report alleges Bogdan wore federal wiretaps when meeting with Radomski and ordered steroid packages at the behest of the FBI - presumably to lessen his pending federal sentence after pleading guilty in 2001 to charges of wire fraud and making false statements in a real-estate scam.
"I don't want this to go so far out of line where more innocent people are affected by this," Bogdan said. "I want to clarify that the stuff on the Web site is absurd. It's disturbing because it is so absurd and false."
Smoking Gun editor Bill Bastone stood by his story and said it was "no surprise" that Bogdan disavowed much of the information since he was reluctant to confirm most of the details during their multiple telephone conversations.
"He attempted to distance himself from active cooperation on ballplayers," Bastone said. "I think it's very clear and obvious that he did what we reported he did."
The New York Times in yesterday's editions cited two anonymous sources confirming Bogdan's involvement as an FBI informant. Also, as part of an unsealed federal affidavit in the Radomski case, the unnamed source is listed as a former FBI subject who had pleaded to real-estate fraud charges.
