Barry Bonds scheduled to be sentenced December 16

Former Major League Baseball star Barry Bonds is scheduled to be sentenced for his obstruction of justice conviction on December 16.

Bonds, MLB's all-time homerun king, was found guilty in April of giving an evasive answer to a grand jury during the 2003 BALCO steroids ring case. On Friday, a judge upheld Bonds' conviction and denied his request for a new trial. 

The Associated Press reports that the conviction "carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, yet federal guidelines call for 15-21 months."

For similar offenses in the BALCO steroids ring case, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston sentenced cyclist Tammy Thomas to six months of home confinement and track coach Trevor Graham to one year of home confinement.

Back in April, jurors were unable to agree on whether Bonds lied when he said he didn't knowingly take steroids or human growth hormone, and didn't knowingly receive injections from trainer Greg Anderson, according to Bloomberg. Bonds' attorneys argued he had told the truth about not knowingly taking performance enhancing drugs because they were new at the time and because Anderson told him one was flaxseed oil. A mistrial was declared on three counts of perjury.

Bonds won seven Most Valuable Player awards and was a 14-time All-Star during his baseball career. He hit 73 homeruns during the 2001 season, setting a single season record, and finished his career with 762 homeruns. According to The Los Angeles Times, Bonds was indicted just a month after the end of his final season.

The Silicon Valley Mercury News reports that, once sentenced, Bonds is expected to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors have yet to indicate if they plan to retry Bonds on the perjury counts.