“Last week’s sentencing of Paul Askew marks an important moment for clean athletes and shows the value of treating doping schemes as the serious fraud that they are under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA).
Askew received a sentence of six months in federal prison, and he will complete that time after serving his state sentence on separate fraud-related charges.
Earlier this year, after an investigation by USADA and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Askew pleaded guilty to conspiracy to influence major international sports competitions by doping a professional track and field athlete with testosterone, a banned and powerful performance-enhancing substance.
While athletes are held accountable under anti-doping rules, it’s equally important that those who manufacture, distribute, prescribe, or coordinate the use of prohibited drugs must also face consequences for harming clean athletes and undermining public trust in sport.
USADA is extremely grateful to the DEA’s Orlando District Office, the Department of Justice, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida for working to expose Askew’s scheme before it could further defraud clean athletes, fans, and the integrity of sport. This case prevented Askew and the athlete from acting on their intentions to use illegal testosterone injections to improve the athlete’s performance at the 2024 American Indoor Track and Field Championships, the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, the 2024 United States Olympic Trials, and even the 2024 Summer Olympics.
We are perpetually grateful to the Trump administration for signing RADA into law in 2020 after the bill was passed with unanimous bipartisan support by Congress. As the United States prepares to welcome more major international sporting events in the years ahead, including the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, RADA will allow USADA and the U.S. government to protect clean athletes and fair competition here and beyond.”
For more information or media inquiries, email Media@USADA.org.
