Freiburg doctor pays fine to settle doping-related charges

Dr. Andreas Schmid has agreed to pay a fine equal to three months salary in settlement of charges that he violated prescription drug laws.  The case stems from the German investigation of the involvement of the Freiburg University Clinic in relation to doping with Team Telekom/T-Mobile.

Schmid “admitted to letting pro cyclists from the former team have five packages of EPO,” his attorney, Ferdinand Gillmeister, told the dpa news agency. The names of the rider or riders involved with the EPO were not made public.

The settlement is not an admission of guilt and Schmid will not have a criminal record.

The investigations of Dr. Lothar Heinrich, team officials Rudy Pevenage, Mario Kummer and Olaf Ludwig were also closed with no action being taken.

The investigations were closed due to the statute of limitations and because, according to the prosecutors, no damage was done as the riders agreed to the doping. But chief Freiburg public prosecutor Wolfgang Mier made clear, “Without question, doping took place.”

In announcing the settlement, German prosecutors also confirmed that the National Anti-Doping Agency had requested the “15 to 20 files” on the case. The NADA is said to be looking into whether Andreas Klöden, Matthias Kessler and Patrik Sinkewitz were involved in blood doping at the Freiburg University Clinic during the 2006 Tour de France.  Klöden has denied any such involvement, and in 2009 made a payment to charity to end the prosecutor's investigation.