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.
Source: Flex Online
IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Hidetada Yamagishi has retained one of the top Hollywood defense attorneys, Shawn Chapman Holley to defend him in his legal case involving steroid possession and steroid distribution; Holley is a uber celebrity attorney with an impressive resume defending celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Nicole Richey, rapper The Game and Michelle Rodriguez.
Shawn Chapman Holley is a Partner at Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP, the chief legal correspondent for E! Entertainment Television, the former Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office of the Cochran Firm, former head of the Cochran Firm’s national Criminal Defense Section.
She is probably best known as a member of O.J. Simpson’s defense team, aka the “Dream Team,” in Simpson’s criminal murder trial. She has extensive legal experience in high-profile cases:
Ms. Holley successfully defended Sara Jane Olson in her highly-publicized cases involving crimes committed by the Symbionese Liberation Army more than twenty-eight years ago. Her clients have included Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, actors Stan Shaw and Nia Long, and NBA basketball stars Larry Johnson and Byron Scott. She was also a member of the defense team which successfully represented celebrated Black Panther leader Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt in a highly-publicized hearing which resulted in his release from prison after more than twenty-five years and the reversal of his murder conviction. Ms. Holley is Chief Legal Correspondent for the E! Network, providing on-air commentary on topical legal issues concerning entertainers and the entertainment industry. She was on-air legal analyst for KABC Eyewitness News in Los Angeles for several years and appears frequently on the Today Show, Good Morning America, PrimeTime Live, The O’Reilly Factor, Court TV, Fox News and CNN. She was a featured lawyer on Fox TV’s Power of Attorney for two seasons and was most recently featured as an on-air legal analyst on the E! Network’s nightly international coverage of the Michael Jackson trial.
With the benefit of Shawn Chapman Holley, Hide may able to get out of jail next week on reduced misdemeanor charges with time served, avoid deportation, and continue to compete in IFBB pro bodybuilding contests in the United States.
Flex Online spoke with the attorney for Hidetada Yamagishi and confirmed the steroid-related charges against Hide that we first learned over three weeks ago from Muscletime. Allan Donnelly writes:
Yamagishi is charged with six felonies and three misdemeanors.
The felonies are: unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance, trenbolone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance, testosterone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance chorionic gonadotropin; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale of a controlled substance mesterolone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale of a controlled substance, oxandrolone; unlawful transport, import into the state of California, sell, furnish, administer and give away and offer to transport, import into the State of California, sell furnish, administer and give away, and attempt to import into the State of California and transport a controlled substance trenbolone, chorionic gonadotropin, testosterone, mesterolone, oxandrolone and stanozolol.
Shawn Chapman Holley, Hide’s defense attorney, confirmed that the amount and quantity of anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs found in Hidetada’s luggage at LAX was consistent with personal use for a competitive bodybuilder.
It’s clear that the quantity of steroids at issue is consistent with personal use and far less than one would expect to see in a case of sales. Moreover the quantity is consistent with what one would expect to see for a bodybuilder with the competition schedule Hide had posted on his Website before his arrest.
The State of California is apparently abusing misusing the law by attempting to prosecute Hidetada Yamagishi as a distributor of anabolic steroids; Hidetada clearly had no intent to sell steroids only to compete in professional bodybuilding competitions.
California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, knows a thing or two about the quantity and type of anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs included in precontest bodybuilding steroid stacks. He could easily confirm that the steroid stack imported by Hide was consistent with personal use by a professional bodybuilder. Someone should appeal directly to Arnold Schwarzenegger and ask that he explain this to California prosecutors.
There is a good chance that Hide’s defense attorney will be able to do the same and reach a plea agreement to misdemeanor charges on behalf of Hidetada Yamagishi.
I am hopeful that on February 6th we will have worked out a deal where, hopefully he will plead guilty to a misdemeanor count and be placed on summary probation with credit for time served and that will be the end of the criminal case.
Nonetheless, it is terrible that Hide will have spent no less than 8 weeks incarcerated on trumped up charges.
