Breaking news on CNN for lying to investigators…
More info from ESPN.com
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Marion Jones was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a check-fraud scam, despite her plea that she not be separated from her two young children “even for a short period of time.”
“I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be,” she said.
Jones must report to prison no later than March 11. She also was given two years of supervised probation and 400 hours of community service.
Last October, Jones admitted she lied to a federal investigators in November 2003 when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
She said she took a designer steroid “several times before the Sydney Olympics and continued using it after.”
The sentence completes a stunning fall for the woman who was once the most celebrated female athlete in the world. She won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=3191954
Wow, how the mighty have fallen! SHe’ll probably do no more than 6 weeks if that.
Ugh, the part about being taken away from her two small children made me weepy. Seems her utter humiliation, plus knowing that she cheated all her team mates and the loss of her medals should be enough, to me. I can’t imagine being forced to leave my children for half a year, I think I’d die. They’re going to change so much in that time and she’s going to miss it all. That’s serious punishment.
The message here is that if you do get busted for taking steroids then don’t lie about it. Hopefully other athletes will take note.
I feel sorry for her, but she brought it on herself.
I sort of agree with you. I think that her being in prison for six months hurts her kids… not really fair.
but wouldn’t that apply to any person who has children and committed a crime? Are you suggesting everyone with children who has committed a crime shouldn’t have to go to prison?
ric
I think she should probably do some jail time, I think six months is a bit extreme - but then again I think all US sentence lengths tend to be a bit extreme - I’m generally unconvinced that longer and longer sentences do anything to improve society at large.
are you suggesting it’s fair for the kids? I doubt tigerchik is saying parents shouldn’t serve jail time, she’s just feeling badly for the kids which probably you do too.
a sad situation all around even though she is responsible for it.
SHe’ll probably do no more than 6 weeks if that.
Unlike celebrity drunks in LA, Federal time is different. She will do at least 75% of the sentence before eligible for parole.
It’s trite, but “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”. No sympathy for her. From Scooter Libby to Marion Jones, all this “he/she’s suffered enough already” is hooey. The judicial system, based on the law, decides when enough is enough.
what dtreep said.
Should she have to go to prison? yup because those are the rules!!!
Do her kids suffer from not having their mom around for 6 mnths? yup.
Did the kids do anything to deserve that? no. And this is why I said it was kind of unfair to them.
And what about the athletes that competed against her fairly? How are they and THEIR CHILDREN are feeling now?
Ron W.
And what about the athletes that competed against her fairly? How are they and THEIR CHILDREN are feeling now?
Ron W.
I’m sure at this point aside from a little bitterness, they’re all OK. I would have thought that if the only intent was to make the athletes who had been the direct victims of her cheating feel better, then stripping her medals was enough. Remember, she’s not going to jail for cheating in races, she’s going to jail for perjury.
Perhaps I am one of the few, but I think this punishment is over the top. I would think that the humiliation she has gone through with having to hand back her medals and being seen as a disgrace is punishment enough. Taking her away from her kids - this seems extreme. It’s not like she was harming anyone in society. She was playing the dirty game of sports at the highest level.
I would think the kids have a father that would take care of them so it’s not like they are being left in foster care.
But still yes, not great for the kids either.
jaretj
**It’s not like she was harming anyone in society. She was playing the dirty game of sports at the highest level. **
According to the article, she is NOT doing time for doping. She is doing the time because she lied to Fed investigators and a check fraud scheme. No details on the check thing, but lying to the feds is a problem. (Unless you’re POTUS ;-)) Being a billionaire is no defense (see Martha Stewart) so why should being a top olympian get you off?
Lesson for the day: You have a right to remain silent, use it.
Don’t worry, the way they’re working things these days, for people other than me, is that you do what appears to be about 1/10th of your actual term and then get released on good behavior. So she’ll be in a few weeks at most I’d guess. It’ll be like mommy went on a long vacation, that she doesn’t want to talk about and doesn’t have any slide shows from. 
-Andrew
As someone else said, this is federal time, she’ll be in there for most of it.
And yeah, she lied to investigators. The basis of our justice system is in telling the truth, I suppose one could argue she didn’t do harm to anyone else, but she impeded an investigation, that’s a crime. Plus there was the check scheme.
The worst part, I believe she had immunity from steroid charges when testifying (like Giambi and Bonds were offered). So tell the truth, be humiliated, move on. Or, tell a lie, live in fear knowing they will find out, they find out, still get the humiliation, go to jail, then move on. I am not a Giambi fan, but kudos to him for telling the truth, he gets to go home at night while Marion goes to jail.
“lying to the feds is a problem”
Exactly. She’s going to prison for lying to federal authorities, not for cheating in sports. Don’t mess with the Fed. They take it very seriously.
