June 04--Alex Rodriguez's cousin Yuri Sucart, who supplied the New York Yankees star with steroids, has been sentenced to seven months in prison for his role in Major League Baseball's Biogenesis scandal.
Sucart, 53, plead guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute human growth hormone for his role in the scheme which ultimately resulted in 14 player suspensions by the league, including Rodriguez, and seven other guilty pleas from his co-conspirators.
He was also ordered to serve six months of house arrest following his release from prison and pay a fine of $5,000.
"Mr. Sucart is one of the most important individuals in this case," Assistant U.S. Atty. Sharad Motiani told the Associated Press. "It wasn't only Alex Rodriguez. He provided it to other professional athletes, there's no dispute about that."
In 2009, Rodriguez named Sucart as his steroid supplier, earning the longtime personal assistant of the Yankees third baseman a lifetime ban from all MLB facilities. Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season for his involvement with the Miami-area Biogenesis of America clinic.
Rodriguez eventually cut ties with Sucart in 2012, leaving him "nothing," Sucart's lawyer Edward O'Donnell IV said.
"He found himself in a very desperate financial situation," O'Donnell added. "It was a very humiliating time in Mr. Sucart's life."
Sucart reportedly tried to extort $5 million from Rodriguez in exchange for his silence about Rodriguez's steroid use, but eventually settled for about $900,000.
Motiani said that Sucart worked to connect players with Biogenesis, run by Anthony Bosch. In February, Bosch was sentenced to four years in federal prison for supplying performance-enhancing drugs to athletes at the professional and high school level.
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