Barry Bonds Will No Longer Be Prosecuted by US Justice Department

Former Major League Baseball All-Star Barry Bonds is no longer being prosecuted for obstruction of justice charges.

According to the Associated Press, the United States Department of Justice formally dropped Bonds' criminal prosecution Tuesday after nearly 10 years of legal fighting.

"The DOJ could have asked the high court to take the case," the AP report noted. "Instead, the DOJ said the reversal of Bonds' conviction would stand."

After the announcement, Bonds issued a statement, via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle on Twitter:

"

The finality of today’s decision gives me great peace. As I have said before, this outcome is something I have long wished for. I am relieved, humbled and thankful for what this means for me and my family moving forward. Throughout this process, my faith in God, along with so many who have supported me, is what has kept me going. Thank you to all of you who have expressed your heartfelt wishes to me; for that, I am grateful.

"

In April 2011, a federal court jury found Bonds guilty of obstruction charges after he gave a vague, non-specific answer about whether or not he used drugs that required a syringe.

Per Maura Dolan of the Los Angeles Times, a federal appeals court overturned Bonds' conviction in April 2015. Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury News added the appeals court found there was "insufficient evidence" to support the charge that Bonds' testimony inhibited a federal grand jury during the BALCO scandal.

Additionally, Mintz noted that the appeals court prohibited the government from subjecting Bonds to a retrial, which left an appeal to the United States Supreme Court as the remaining "long shot option" to attempt getting the legendary baseball player convicted.

Now that the Department of Justice has declined to go that route, it means federal prosecutors failed to get convictions on every charge brought against the former MVP.

Even though Bonds' charges did not prove successful for the federal government, BALCO founder Victor Conte did plead guilty to various charges in 2005.