By Elliott Almond, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Mar. 30--TAFT -- The weekly visitor's day at the Taft Correctional Institution last week was as festive as a family picnic.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Decisions in the doping cases of American sprinters Tim Montgomery and Chryste Gaines will not be made before the end of October, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) says. The U.S.

By Adam Tanner SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The key figures charged with distributing steroids from the BALCO lab in a scandal that damaged the reputations of top athletes agreed on Friday to plea deals that will result in little or no time in jail. The pleas in U.S.

By Adam Tanner SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Leading figures charged with distributing steroids from the BALCO lab in a scandal that damaged the reputations of top athletes agreed on Friday to plea deals that will keep the case from going to trial. Under the pleas, made in U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO - BALCO founder Victor Conte pleaded guilty Friday to steroid distribution and money laundering in a deal with federal prosecutors, making it much less likely that top athletes such as Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Marion Jones will be forced to testify about alleged drug use.