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Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was interviewed by an FBI agent late last week at the team's spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., about his association with a Canadian doctor who is under investigation for drug violations, including conspiring to smuggle human growth hormone into the United States from Canada, Reyes confirmed Sunday.
Reyes said he got a call "like two days ago" from an FBI agent who said they wanted to question him about treatment he received from Dr. Tony Galea, who was arrested in December following a September border stop near Buffalo of his assistant in which syringes, vials and various drugs were seized from a vehicle she was driving.
The Daily News first reported Saturday that Reyes had been interviewed about the doctor, who faces charges in Canada of conspiring to smuggle HGH and the drug Actovegin into the U.S., conspiracy to smuggle prohibited goods into Canada, unlawfully selling Actovegin and smuggling goods into Canada in violation of the Customs Act. Reyes is one of several elite athletes, including Tiger Woods, who received the controversial "blood-spinning" or plasma-replacement therapy, from Galea, in which a person's blood is removed, spun in a machine and replaced.
Reyes said he told the FBI that he spent five days in Galea's Toronto office in early September, receiving three plasma replacement injections every other day. He said he was asked if he had been injected with human growth hormone, which Galea has admitted prescribing to patients, and which is illegal in the U.S. with limited exceptions. It is not illegal in Canada.
"They asked me if he injected me with (HGH). I said 'no,' Reyes said. "What we do there, basically, he took my blood out, put it in some machine, spin it around and put it back in my leg." Reyes added that his meeting with the FBI was 40 minutes to an hour and said he did not expect to have further involvement as the case moves forward. He said one of his agents, Chris Leible, was with him during the meeting and that he was surprised to get the call.
"They called me that morning and said they want to meet me. They said, 'It's the FBI.' I said, 'Man, what did I do wrong,' Reyes said. "It kind of surprised me a little bit and I was scared. After talking to them, they said it should be no problem with me, it's just an investigation. I said, 'Fine. Thanks God.' They said that's it... That's no fun, man. I'll tell you that. Everything is clear right now. So there's nothing to worry about. I just have to play baseball."
Sports Illustrated posted a story Saturday night on its Web site saying that federal law enforcement officials have alerted a number of athletes that they could expect grand jury subpoenas in the case against Galea. His client list includes Woods, Reyes, former Met Carlos Delgado, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres and Broncos quarterback Chris Simms, among others. Several NFL players are also expected to be interviewed or subpoenaed by the grand jury.
Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz told The News Saturday night the team was aware of the situation involving Reyes.
Galea came under suspicion in September, after his assistant, MaryAnne Catalano, was stopped at the U.S.-Canada border with an assortment of drugs in her car that she said belonged to Galea. She told investigators that Galea had provided HGH to his pro athlete clients.
Catalano told authorities that Galea had asked her to carry the drugs into the U.S. because he had had problems getting them in before. She said he had no U.S. medical license. As The News first reported, Galea is being investigated in Florida for practicing without a license.
Galea's association with Woods, and other famous athletes, came to light after Galea's arrest in December. It was revealed then that Woods, too, had received the blood-spinning treatment at his Florida home in 2009 to help treat a slow-healing knee injury. Galea's attorney, Brian Greenspan, told The News after his client was charged in a Toronto courtroom in December that "Dr. Galea has not been and is not involved in providing performance-enhancing drugs to competitive athletes. The name Tiger Woods and any suggestion of a linkage to Tiger Woods is nonexistent."
The embattled golfer went out of his way in his first public appearance since the Nov. 27 car accident that turned his life upside down to deny that he ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
Greenspan said the case was about Galea's use of Actovegin, a derivative of calves' blood that has potential as a doping product but is not currently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. It is administered intravenously and is not approved in Canada. Actovegin is also not approved by the FDA for sale in the United States.
But according to Reyes, it was the blood-spinning treatment, which is legal and not banned by sports leagues, that offered hope for him.
"I don't do nothing wrong. I went there. I get what I had to do and got out of there," Reyes said. "There's nothing to worry about for me. ... Right now I don't worry because he don't put nothing like that in my body. I know what he was doing with me. I don't have to worry about that.
"A lot of people talk about that, like he's a good doctor," Reyes added. "At that time, I just went to get another opinion. He said he's going to get me right. And I tried it. Some people talked about him, so I said, 'Let's try it. Maybe this can help me out.' But that didn't help anything because finally I had to get the surgery done. It didn't help me at all. I feel good after a little bit, but when I started running, like I tried to run full speed, it wasn't there. So I had to get the surgery."
Reyes said he got a call "like two days ago" from an FBI agent who said they wanted to question him about treatment he received from Dr. Tony Galea, who was arrested in December following a September border stop near Buffalo of his assistant in which syringes, vials and various drugs were seized from a vehicle she was driving.
The Daily News first reported Saturday that Reyes had been interviewed about the doctor, who faces charges in Canada of conspiring to smuggle HGH and the drug Actovegin into the U.S., conspiracy to smuggle prohibited goods into Canada, unlawfully selling Actovegin and smuggling goods into Canada in violation of the Customs Act. Reyes is one of several elite athletes, including Tiger Woods, who received the controversial "blood-spinning" or plasma-replacement therapy, from Galea, in which a person's blood is removed, spun in a machine and replaced.
Reyes said he told the FBI that he spent five days in Galea's Toronto office in early September, receiving three plasma replacement injections every other day. He said he was asked if he had been injected with human growth hormone, which Galea has admitted prescribing to patients, and which is illegal in the U.S. with limited exceptions. It is not illegal in Canada.
"They asked me if he injected me with (HGH). I said 'no,' Reyes said. "What we do there, basically, he took my blood out, put it in some machine, spin it around and put it back in my leg." Reyes added that his meeting with the FBI was 40 minutes to an hour and said he did not expect to have further involvement as the case moves forward. He said one of his agents, Chris Leible, was with him during the meeting and that he was surprised to get the call.
"They called me that morning and said they want to meet me. They said, 'It's the FBI.' I said, 'Man, what did I do wrong,' Reyes said. "It kind of surprised me a little bit and I was scared. After talking to them, they said it should be no problem with me, it's just an investigation. I said, 'Fine. Thanks God.' They said that's it... That's no fun, man. I'll tell you that. Everything is clear right now. So there's nothing to worry about. I just have to play baseball."
Sports Illustrated posted a story Saturday night on its Web site saying that federal law enforcement officials have alerted a number of athletes that they could expect grand jury subpoenas in the case against Galea. His client list includes Woods, Reyes, former Met Carlos Delgado, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres and Broncos quarterback Chris Simms, among others. Several NFL players are also expected to be interviewed or subpoenaed by the grand jury.
Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz told The News Saturday night the team was aware of the situation involving Reyes.
Galea came under suspicion in September, after his assistant, MaryAnne Catalano, was stopped at the U.S.-Canada border with an assortment of drugs in her car that she said belonged to Galea. She told investigators that Galea had provided HGH to his pro athlete clients.
Catalano told authorities that Galea had asked her to carry the drugs into the U.S. because he had had problems getting them in before. She said he had no U.S. medical license. As The News first reported, Galea is being investigated in Florida for practicing without a license.
Galea's association with Woods, and other famous athletes, came to light after Galea's arrest in December. It was revealed then that Woods, too, had received the blood-spinning treatment at his Florida home in 2009 to help treat a slow-healing knee injury. Galea's attorney, Brian Greenspan, told The News after his client was charged in a Toronto courtroom in December that "Dr. Galea has not been and is not involved in providing performance-enhancing drugs to competitive athletes. The name Tiger Woods and any suggestion of a linkage to Tiger Woods is nonexistent."
The embattled golfer went out of his way in his first public appearance since the Nov. 27 car accident that turned his life upside down to deny that he ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
Greenspan said the case was about Galea's use of Actovegin, a derivative of calves' blood that has potential as a doping product but is not currently banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. It is administered intravenously and is not approved in Canada. Actovegin is also not approved by the FDA for sale in the United States.
But according to Reyes, it was the blood-spinning treatment, which is legal and not banned by sports leagues, that offered hope for him.
"I don't do nothing wrong. I went there. I get what I had to do and got out of there," Reyes said. "There's nothing to worry about for me. ... Right now I don't worry because he don't put nothing like that in my body. I know what he was doing with me. I don't have to worry about that.
"A lot of people talk about that, like he's a good doctor," Reyes added. "At that time, I just went to get another opinion. He said he's going to get me right. And I tried it. Some people talked about him, so I said, 'Let's try it. Maybe this can help me out.' But that didn't help anything because finally I had to get the surgery done. It didn't help me at all. I feel good after a little bit, but when I started running, like I tried to run full speed, it wasn't there. So I had to get the surgery."
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