By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — Charges have been dropped against three Washington area FBI agents and an analyst who were accused of covering up use of steroids and human growth hormones.
In federal court on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a one-page document dismissing the charges without prejudice, leaving open the possibility of new charges down the road as the probe continues. One factor in the dismissal was the pressure of bringing the trial in a timely manner as authorities continue to sift through a mound of evidence.
Special Agent James Barnett of Alexandria,Va., counterterrorism analyst Ali Sawan of Sterling,Va., and Special Agents Katia and Matthew Litton, who are married and live in McLean, Va., were charged with making false statements in an annual fitness report.
“The case against the four FBI employees was dismissed without prejudice and the government retains the option to seek charges at a later date, ” said Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington. ” He said the investigation into the matter is continuing, but he declined to comment on the reasons for the dismissal.
The agents were charged in September with providing false statements after they allegedly failed to disclose on government forms the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones commonly taken in the sports and bodybuilding world, authorities announced today. One agent is a former bodybuilder.
Authorities said the FBI employees received different diagnoses from a doctor, including “pituitary dwarfism” — a stunted-growth condition normally diagnosed in children — and then got numerous prescriptions for the steroids and growth drugs for “which there was no known medical necessity.”
