After almost seven years of effort, federal prosecutors have managed to make just one charge stick against baseball's home run king Barry Bonds: an obstruction of justice count that doesn't actually pertain to performance enhancing drugs.

A federal jury found Wednesday that Bonds had "misled or impeded a 2003 grand jury hearing evidence about steroid use by elite athletes," the New York Times reported.

However the guilty verdict pertained to statements he had made "about his childhood as the son of major leaguer Bobby Bonds and his relationship with personal trainer Greg Anderson."

The longtime San Francisco Giant had been facing three other felony counts but a hung jury was declared on each of those. ESPN said that the conviction, which can carry up to a 10-year sentence but may not actually lead to jail time, was a big win for prosecutors:

"The unanimous verdict that Bonds was guilty of obstruction of justice is a major triumph for federal agent Jeff Novitzky and prosecutors Jeff Nedrow and Matthew Parrella. It is also a bit of an upset. The members of the federal team started the trial with two strikes against them. Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer, refused to testify for the government. If he had testified, its case against Bonds likely would have been overwhelming."

The LA Times gives some context:

"The probe that ensnared Bonds began with an investigation of a Bay Area laboratory that was selling illegal performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, and expanded to include athletes who lied to investigators. Bonds, holder of major-league baseball's hallowed record for most home runs, was the probe's highest-profile quarry.

Prosecutors said Bonds lied repeatedly to a grand jury to protect his reputation. Defense attorneys charged the government had a vendetta against Bonds and used lying witnesses to try to convict him."

Bonds will be sentenced May 20.