Tonya Harding, who escaped jail time in a plea bargain last week, was in on the plot to attack rival figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, a grand jury says after more than two months of investigation.
An indictment issued Monday named Harding along with the four men who have admitted their roles in the crime.Harding was not charged in the indictment only because of her plea agreement, prosecutor Norm Frink said.
Three men who have admitted carrying out the attack - Shawn Eckardt, Shane Stant and Derrick Smith - were indicted. They pleaded innocent Monday to racketeering, conspiracy to commit assault, assault and unlawfully obtaining communications.
The indictment said the three agreed with each other, Harding and her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, "to unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly cause physical injury to Nancy Kerrigan by means of a dangerous weapon."
Grand jury foreman David Holt said he believed there was enough evidence to indict Harding for participation in the assault plot.
"Like Mr. Frink said, there was a great deal of evidence pointing toward the fact that she was involved from the beginning or very close to the beginning," Holt said. "I think she would have been indicted on all counts."
Harding's attorneys issued a strong statement Monday denying she had anything to do with the plot before the attack.
"That indictment is merely an accusation," the statement said. "It was prepared by the district attorney and presented to a grand jury he directed and controlled."
Harding has admitted helping to cover up the plot and pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to hinder prosecution. In another plea bargain, Gillooly pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to one count of racketeering and is free pending sentencing.
Eckardt, 26, is Harding's 310-pound would-be bodyguard and a friend of Gillooly's since childhood. He has admitted helping to plan the attack and contacting Smith to carry it out.
His attorney, Mark McKnight, said he expected the case to go to trial. He said Eckardt admits to conspiring to assault Kerrigan but is not guilty of racketeering.
"It is interesting that the person for whom all this was done received no jail and an enormous amount of money from a variety of sources," McKnight said.
On Jan. 6, Stant struck Kerrigan above the right knee with a metal police baton, then escaped Cobo Arena by butting his head through the plexiglass window of a locked door. With Kerrigan out of the competition because of injury, Harding won the U.S. title.
Smith, 29, was the intermediary who funneled money from Gillooly and Eckardt to Stant and drove the getaway car.
Stant and Smith have established a telephone "900" number that a person may call and hear them talk about the case. Smith said the information would be about Harding's involvement. The two also are marketing police baton key rings and T-shirts that read, "Save a skater, club a Gillooly."