IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Hidetada Yamagishi recently had all felony steroid possession and distribution charges against him dismissed; he pleaded guilty to only a misdemeanor count of possession of Viagra without a prescription. Nonetheless, this was enough to result in the revocation of his O-1 travel visa granted to foreign athletes who have extraordinary ability and have received international acclaim and recognition in their respective sport. As a result, he was taken into federal custody and placed in the Federal Correctional Institute at San Pedro, California.
Yamagishi retained immigration attorney Ms. Montserrat Miller, Esq. from the law firm Greenberg Traurig. Hide was given the option of remaining incarcerated while he fought the revocation of his O-1 visa or he could voluntarily return to Japan. Upon the advice of Ms. Miller, Hidetada Yamagishi chose the latter option.
When Hide returns to Japan, he will be faced with decisions on how to proceed with his bodybuilding career as it involves travel to the United States. Flexonline outlines his options:
Now, Yamagishi must choose whether he wants to fight the revocation of his visa from Japan or apply for re-entry to the United States. IF he chooses to contest the revocation and loses, Yamagishi faces a five-year ban where he will not, under any circumstances, be allowed to enter the United States. However, if Yamagishi elects to apply for a re-entry visa and is approved, it is likely that he would be allowed back in the country within the next few months.
Flex Online reports that all felony and misdemeanor steroid and controlled substance charges against Hidetada Yamagishi were dismissed except for one misdemeanor count of possession of Viagra without a prescription which Hide pleaded no contest. This is the best possible outcome for Hide according to his attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley.
I met with Mr. Lynch who is the Head Deputy of the District Attorney’s office yesterday… I presented him a packet of materials. Not only declarations from people indicating that there was no way in the world that the amount of steroids that he possessed was for distribution but also…a lot of character letters. Also, our concern is what is going to happen in the immigration court. We had an extensive letter from the immigration attorney talking about what is likely to happen in the immigration proceedings. I wanted the DA to consider all of these things because this is a great guy, a great competitor and a great athlete who had no intention of selling or distributing any of these compounds. And he is also going to have to face a number of serious consequences with regard to immigration and with regard to whatever sponsorships he has. So I wanted to take all of that into consideration and assess what made sense.
Hide Yamagishi has been released from the custody of the State of California and transported into federal custody at the Federal Correctional Institute in San Pedro, California. It is uncertain whether he will be able to remain in the United States after he appears in immigration court. He may be deported immediately to Japan where he will have to try to re-establish his travel visa.
Allan Donnelly of Flex Magazine reports that IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Hidetada Yamagishi’s preliminary court date on steroid possession and steroid distribution charges has been rescheduled to February 6, 2008. Hide was said to have “missed” the bus transporting him to his originally scheduled hearing on January 23, 2008; when he did arrive, Los Angelese Superior Court was unable to provide a court-appointed Japanese translator. So, the judge rescheduled the hearing two weeks later. Meanwhile, Hidetada returns to jail to continue to wait for his day in court.
It seems to be that it was the State’s responsible to deliver Hide to court on time and, when that was not possible, at least be able to provide a Japanese translator. Rescheduling the court date to almost two weeks later due to State incompetence doesn’t seem very fair to Hide.
