Former pro cyclist Floyd Landis has been found guilty in a French court in connection with his part in a hack on a drug lab that discovered his use of performance-enhancing substances.
Landis won the Tour de France in 2006 but was later stripped of the title after failing a drug test at the lab. Last year, the disgraced cyclist confessed to taking drugs throughout his career.
Landis and his ex-trainer Arnie Baker were handed 12-month suspended prison terms. Neither appeared in court, although it is unlikely their arrest will be chased due to the sentence being suspended.
Alain Quiros, the man who admitted hacking into the French lab's computers to steal files, was given six months in prison and fined 4,000, the Wall Street Journal reported. It is believed he used a Trojan to acquire the data illicitly.
Investigations found Quiros had stolen 1,742 files from the lab, some of which later appeared on Baker's website in an article slamming the lab's credibility, people familiar with the matter said.
It appeared the documents had been tampered with in order to besmirch the reputation of the lab, the probe into the case also found.
The files were used by Landis' lawyers in defending the cyclist against the doping allegations.
Lawyers for Landis and Baker said the two men were unaware the documents had been stolen by the hacker, and the ex-trainer denied tampering with the files.
