Floyd Landis
U.S. cyclist Floyd Landis testifies at an arbitration hearing in Malibu, California May 22, 2007. The arbitrators are considering a case brought against Landis by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency alleging the cyclist used illicit performance-enhancing drugs. He faces a possible two-year suspension and loss of his Tour de France title. Reuters

Retired American cyclist Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France in 2006 and was stripped of his title in a doping case, was convicted Thursday by a French court in absentia for his role in hacking into a French doping lab's computer records.

The court in Nanterre, just west of Paris, gave Landis a 12-month suspended prison sentence. The state prosecutor had sought 18 months.

The investigators in the case claimed Landis and former coach, Arnie Baker -- who also received a suspended prison term of 12 months-- attempted to hack into a computer of the antidoping lab. The two men were among five defendants in the case, in which the Chatenay-Malabry lab claimed hackers intruded into its computers. The lab claimed in November 2006 that its systems were infected with a Trojan Horse virus that allowed hackers to access certain data.

The court also gave Alain Quiros, who has acknowledged hacking into the lab, a six-month prison sentence and a fine of 4,000 euros ($5,416), according to The Wall Street Journal.

Court Electronics Hacking