Ron Avidan from GetBig.com had the opportunity to visit Hidetada Yamagishi in jail at the North County Correctional Facility (Pitchess Detention Center) at the end of the December 2007.
In terms of food, Ramen noodles, and tuna he can get as a treat, but prison food it is, or whatever they decide to give them that day. In terms of training, there is no gym equipment there, so Hidetada does a lot of pushups, and other various exercises that he can to stay in shape.
In seeing Hidetada, he seemed to be in good spirits, wearing his glasses, in a blue L.A. County jumpsuit, and still in excellent shape. We talked about the future, and when he gets out, on whether he can compete in time for the August IFBB shows, or whether the INS might not let him stay here.
Hide also dispelled rumors that his arrest had anything to do with Milos Sarcev.
Regarding Milos, none of this looks like it involves Milos, and he was planning to move to New York, train at Bev Francis’ Powerhouse Gym, and then come back a few weeks before the Ironman to train with Milos.
But no details on whether Hide was arrested and jailed for possession of anabolic steroids or something else. We hope to have more information at Hidetada’s court appearance on January 8, 2008.
For more information on the visit with Hide, check out Ron’s full report.
I speculated on Muscletime.com that the 2008 IFBB Japan Pro Bodybuilding Show scheduled for October 13, 2008 would be cancelled as a result of Hidetada Yamagishi’s arrest and ongoing incarceration since his big money sponsor was also behind promoting the show:
This is also bad news for the IFBB, IFBB Japan, and especially Hide Yamagishi’s sponsor, RKS Planning (a division of Rokkuku Construction Company in Japan) who has invested significant funds in promoting Hide domestically and internationally. They accompanied him to the 2007 Mr. Olympia weekend distributing free merchandise to promote Hide; the company produced a couple of commercials featuring Hide which can be seen here and here. Furthermore, they are sponsoring the 2008 IFBB Japan Pro in Tokyo in October of 2008; recent events suggest that this may be cancelled depending on the outcome of the Hidetada Yamagishi case.
Now, it appears that the 2008 IFBB Japan Pro show has been removed from the official IFBB calendar of events. There is no official word on the show, but I expect that RKS Planning will cut their losses if Hidetada’s legal problems are as serious as they appear.
IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Hidetada Yamagishi was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after arriving from Narita Airport (Tokyo) on December 8, 2007. Hide recently spent five weeks in his home country of Japan. He is currently being held at the North County Correctional Facility in Saugus, California on $180,000 bond. He will have a court date on January 8, 2008 at Los Angeles Municipal Court.
Contrary to what has been reported elsewhere, he is unlikely to post bail. Since U.S. authorities have placed an immigration hold on Hidetada Yamagishi, if he does post bail, he will immediately be taken into federal custody until the conclusion of his legal proceeding. Hide will then be turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and placed in deportation proceedings.
This most certainly means he will not compete at the 2008 Ironman Pro Invitational or the 2008 Arnold Classic. Hidetada’s name has already been removed from the official Arnold Classic competitor’s list.
