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Fuentes guilty in Operacion Puerto

Judge hands down one year suspended sentence to Spanish doctor

Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes has been found guilty of endangering public health and given a suspended one-year sentence upon the conclusion of the Operacion Puerto trial held in Madrid on Tuesday.

Judge Julia Santamaria also stripped Fuentes of his medical licence for four years. Ignacio Labarta, a former team trainer, was given a four-month sentence.

Operacion Puerto was the title given to a doping scandal that ignited nearly seven years ago. The scandal was centred around Fuentes and his medical practice in Madrid.

Police raided his lab and found more than 200 coded blood bags. It implicated several professional cyclists, who allegedly stored their own blood bags to be reinfused during high-profile races for performance-enhancing purposes, and purchased other banned substances.

Judge Santamaria ruled against releasing the remaining blood bags, which identify athletes from other sports, to anti-doping authorities. It was reported that the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency will appeal this ruling and request the blood evidence to be released.

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