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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration briefly investigated LeBron James and cleared him of any wrongdoing as part of the 2013 Biogenesis investigation, according to federal documents obtained by ESPN’s Mike Fish.
James’ limited involvement in the investigation appeared to come by happenstance. Trainer David Alexander, who worked with James during his time with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers, and James’ longtime friend and business associate Ernest “Randy” Mims were both named as having received illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Investigators found Mims obtained testosterone for personal use after being referred to Carlos Acevedo, a known dealer of performance-enhancing substances, by Alexander. According to the documents, James was investigated due to his ties to Mims and Alexander, but investigators found no wrongdoing.
“There was never any indication that LeBron James did anything wrong,” the lead DEA investigator said.
Mims was allegedly a client of Acevedo for only two months before stopping treatment, which he hoped would provide weight loss.
“[He’s] apparently an overweight guy. And he went to him [Acevedo] about possibly getting some testosterone treatment stuff that they were giving a bunch of overweight guys in Miami, and they dropped a lot of weight,” DEA agent Kevin Stanfill said.
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A representative of James said the four-time NBA MVP had no knowledge he was ever under part of the investigation. Mims was never contacted by authorities or charged with a crime.
Acevedo was a former business partner of Tony Bosch, who was the center of the Biogenesis investigation that ultimately led to several prominent athletes being outed as PED users.
Bosch was sentenced to four years in prison in 2015. He was released in late 2016.
James has never tested positive for any performance-enhancing substances, nor has he ever been linked to any PEDs outside of his tangential relationship to the Biogenesis investigation.
