Walter Viru escapes prison sentence by paying fines
A member of the Spanish Civil Guard handles blood bags (Image credit: AFP)
Walter Viru, the former Kelme team doctor who was arrested as part of the Operacion Grial anti-doping raid, has been banned from medical practice for two years in a court ruling, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
The Peruvian doctor was also officially sentenced to six months in prison, but he will not have to do the time as the sentence was substituted for fines amounting to €3,780.
Viru was found to be at the heart of a Spanish doping ring that supplied various banned substances to athletes. His son, Juan Domingo Viru, the owner of a pharmacy in Montserrat that served as a key trafficking point, was handed a similar punishment, as was his wife and the six others involved.
Viru, like Eufamiano Fuentes, the disgraced Spanish doctor at the heart of Operacion Puerto, used to work at the Spanish Kelme team. He was investigated after revelations from the former pro turned whistleblower Jesus Manzano in 2005, though that case was ultimately dropped.
In November 2009, he was arrested as a result of Operacion Grial, which saw police raids across several Spanish cities.
"During the investigations it was discovered that among the network of members was a physician with sports and dietary consultation in Valencia, whose role would be to prepare training plans, nutrition and supplementation aimed at improving the performance of athletes, including substances in these plans prohibited in sport,” read a statement from Spain’s police force at the time.
After a lengthy wait, sentences were finally handed down to the accused in a Valencia court on Monday, with all those involved receiving punishment but escaping prison sentences.
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