MIAMI — A man who admitted working as a black market chemist at a garage lab in his suburban home pleaded guilty Thursday to being the main supplier of banned performance-enhancing substances in Major League Baseball’s most recent steroid scandal.

Paulo Berejuk, a 51-year-old Brazilian citizen with permanent U.S. residency, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute testosterone. Investigators said Berejuk was the key source of the substance for Anthony Bosch, who ran the now-closed Biogenesis of America clinic that provided steroids to MLB players and other athletes.

Berejuk faces a reduced prison sentence of between two and three years because he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, but he also could be deported to Brazil after prison. In addition, Berejuk agreed to forfeit to the government a 32-foot Intrepid boat.

Defense attorney Robert Barrar said Berejuk has been helping prosecutors build cases against others charged in the probe for months and wanted to immediately take responsibility for his role.

“I believe in my heart this is what he wants to do because he recognizes he was wrong,” Barrar told U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.

Berejuk admitted in a court document that between 2007 and 2013 he supplied between 5,000 and 10,000 units of banned steroids to Bosch and others involved in the conspiracy, including the owner of another clinic, Jorge Velazquez. Berejuk was paid up to $20,000 a month for his work.

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The doping scandal resulted in suspensions last year for 14 MLB players, including a season-long suspension handed to New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez. According to court documents, Rodriguez admitted using steroids supplied by Bosch during an interview with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Several other people have already pleaded guilty, including Bosch and Velazquez. Another defendant, Juan Carlos Nunez, is scheduled to plead guilty Friday. Still awaiting trial are Rodriguez’s cousin, Yuri Sucart, and former University of Miami pitching coach Lazaro “Laser” Collazo.

After Sucart asked for a two-month delay in the scheduled Feb. 9 trial because of serious health problems, Altonaga on Thursday pushed it back to April 6.

Altonaga also agreed to release Berejuk on $150,000 bail until his Feb. 25 sentencing date, largely because he agreed to cooperate and will surrender his passport. Another judge had ordered Berejuk kept in custody because there was a risk he might flee and was a danger to the community because he was concocting the drugs in his home.

But Altonaga said she was satisfied he will not flee and mentioned the upcoming Christmas holiday as another reason to release him.

“I will give Mr. Berejuk time to enjoy his family before he is sentenced,” she said.

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THE ST. PETERSBURG City Council rejected a deal between the Rays and the Florida city’s mayor that would have allowed the team to search for new stadium sites on both sides of Tampa Bay.

The council voted 5-3 Thursday to reject a proposed agreement reached this month by Mayor Rick Kriseman.

“It is disappointing that the St. Petersburg City Council rejected the progress and certainty that this agreement provided,” Kriseman said in a statement. “St. Petersburg – and the entire Tampa Bay region – stands to lose our Major League Baseball team and receive nothing in return. This is an unfortunate outcome for St. Petersburg’s taxpayers and every fan of the Rays.”

The team has played since its inception in Pinellas County at what now is called Tropicana Field. The agreement would have allowed the Rays to evaluate sites on the east side of the bay in Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located. The Rays have been able to consider only alternative sites in St. Petersburg and surrounding Pinellas County.

The deal also would have established how much the Rays would have had to pay the city if they left their current home before their Tropicana Field lease expires in 2027. Payments to escape the remainder of the lease would have started with $4 million per season through 2018. They would have decreased to $3 million per year from 2019-22 and $2 million from 2023-26.

Council members who voted against the deal expressed concern during Thursday’s meeting that the payments wouldn’t offset the economic impact of losing the team.

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FORMER ATLANTA right-hander Kris Medlen agreed to an $8.5 million, two-year contract with the Kansas City Royals after missing last season while he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Medlen will make $2 million next year and $5.5 million in 2016 under the agreement and could earn up to $10 million in bonuses based on starts and innings. The deal includes a 2017 option with a $1 million buyout.

The 29-year-old went 14-12 with a 3.11 ERA in 2013, his only full season as a starter, and went 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his last five starts.

Medlen, who hurt his elbow in spring training, also missed most of the 2011 season while he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.


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