A federal judge聽on Thursday聽 between two of Lance Armstrong鈥檚 associates and Floyd Landis聽ruling that the government 鈥渃an effectively veto a settlement of claims鈥 in the case.
For $600,000, the deal would have dismissed Bill Stapleton, Armstrong鈥檚 longtime agent, and Barton Knaggs, Armstrong鈥檚 longtime business partner, from a false-claims lawsuit filed by Landis in 2010. The settlement would not have included Armstrong.
The defense attorneys responded to the government鈥檚 decision, writing that it was 鈥渁 nebulous 鈥榗ooperation鈥 requirement鈥 that was 鈥渘egotiated from a position of absolute power,鈥 .
The case began in 2010 when under the False Claims Act, claiming that Armstrong 鈥渟ubmitted claims for sponsorship payments of more than $40 million to the Postal Service while knowing that members of the team had used performance enhancing drugs in violation of their sponsorship agreement.鈥 The government joined the case in 2013 but did not name Knaggs and Stapleton as defendants.
础蝉听国产吃瓜黑料聽reported in 2012, damages may be tripled in whistleblower cases.聽Because the Postal Service gave Armstrong鈥檚 team $31.9 million between 2001 and 20014, Armstrong could, theoretically, 鈥渂e on the hook for more than $90 million.