Court hands Jones prison sentence

Marion Jones has today been sentenced to six months in prison.

The sentence, handed down by United States District Judge Kenneth Karas, stemmed from Jones’ admission to lying about steroid use and cheque fraud.

Jones, 31, denied using performance-enhancing drugs during a 2003 grand jury investigation into BALCO, a San Francisco area laboratory linked to the steroids scandal in sports.

But the five-time Olympic medal winner retired in October after pleading guilty to two charges of lying to federal investigators.

Today’s sentencing came a month after Jones was formally stripped of her Olympic medals.

Jones won gold medals in the 100 and 200 metre races along with the 4x400m relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She also won a bronze medal in the 4x100m relay and long jump.

But Jones returned all five of her Olympic medals in October, clearing the way for the International Olympic Committee to officially revise the medals and clear her name from the record books.

The IAAF council upheld Jones’ two-year period of ineligibility, which originally was imposed by United States officials on October 8.

The governing body ruled that Jones officially has been disqualified from all competitions dating to September 1, 2000, thereby annulling all results both in individual and relay events.

After entering her guilty pleas last year, Jones told the public: ``It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust.''

Fighting back tears, she added: “I have been dishonest, and you have the right to be angry with me.

“I have let (my family) down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down.

“I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

In 2004, she said: “I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs.”

She also sued BALCO founder Victor Conte after he repeatedly accused Jones of using performance-enhancing drugs and said he watched her inject herself.

On the day she pleaded guilty, prosecutors said a 2003 search warrant at BALCO uncovered ledgers, purchases, doping calendars, and various blood-test results connected to Jones and former coach Trevor Graham.

During today's hearing, Jones pleaded with the judge and asked that he not separate her from her children ``even for a short period of time''.

“I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be,” she said.

Jones’ lawyers told the judge that she had been punished enough and should be sentenced only to probation, or perhaps be confined to her home.

Prosecutors did not insist on prison time either, saying any sentence between probation and six months would be fair.

But the judge jailed her for six months.