Marion Jones Pleads Guilty to Lying to Federal Investigators About Steroids

Oct 05, 07:05 PM

Current Headlines: By Jim Fitzgerald, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - For years, Marion Jones angrily denied using steroids. On Friday, she admitted it was all a lie.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, and announced her retirement after the hearing. Jones also pleaded guilty to a second count of lying to investigators about her association with a cheque-fraud scheme.

Outside the courthouse, Jones broke down in tears as she apologized for her actions, saying she fully understands she has disappointed her friends, family and supporters.

"I have let them down. I have let my country down and I have let myself down," she said. "It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you I have betrayed your trust.

"I recognize that by saying I'm deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt that I've caused you. Therefore, I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

In court, Jones, seated at the defence table and speaking in a clear voice through a microphone, said she lied to a federal investigator in November 2003 when he asked if she had used performance-enhancing drugs.

"I answered that I had not. This was a lie, your honour," she said.

Jones said she took steroids from September 2000 to July 2001 and said she was told by her then-coach Trevor Graham that she was taking flaxseed oil when it was actually "the clear."

"By November 2003, I realized he was giving me performance-enhancing drugs," she told the judge.

She said she "felt different, trained more intensely" and experienced "faster recovery and better times" while using the substance.

"He told me to put it under my tongue for a few seconds and swallow it," she said. "He told me not to tell anyone."

It was a stunning fall from grace for Jones, once the most celebrated female athlete in the world. She captivated the country with the audacious goal of winning five gold medals at the Sydney Olympics. Though she fell short - three golds but two bronzes - her charm and winsome smile made her a star.

Seven years later, she is broke, her reputation is ruined and she is looking at prison time. Prosecutors have suggested to Jones that the prison term will be a maximum of six months, although the judge has the discretion to change that. The maximum sentence on each count is five years and a US$250,000 fine.

Jones was released on her own recognizance and was due back in court Jan. 11 for sentencing.

Dressed in a dark suit and pink shirt, Jones was sombre when she arrived at U.S. District Court in Westchester County with her mother and her lawyer, biting her lower lip as reporters and cameras swarmed her. Her mother stumbled at one point but got up and accompanied her daughter inside, where she was fingerprinted and booked before the hearing.

The flaxseed oil Jones said was given to her actually was "the clear" - a performance-enhancing drug linked to BALCO, the lab at the centre of the steroids scandal in professional sports. Home run king Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants also has been linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, and was one of more than two dozen athletes who testified before a federal grand jury in 2003.

Bonds denied ever knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs, saying he believed a clear substance and a cream, given to him by his trainer, were flaxseed oil and an arthritis balm.

The International Olympic Committee already has opened an investigation into doping allegations against Jones in December 2004, and said Friday it will step up its probe and move quickly to strip her of her medals.

Under statute of limitations rules, the IOC and other sports bodies can go back eight years to strip medals and nullify results. In Jones' case, that would include the 2000 Olympics, where she won gold in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 1,600-metre relay and bronze in the long jump and 400-metre relay.

In addition to any jail term, Jones could face a long competition ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

"I don't feel any sense of vindication," said BALCO founder Victor Conte, who was sued by Jones for $25 million in 2004. "I feel very sad for Marion and her entire family. I'm sure their pain is great and they are in need of forgiveness.

"All of us have made poor decisions in our lives and suffered the consequences. Marion is not a bad person."

Suspicions and doping allegations have dogged Jones for years. Her ex-husband, C.J. Hunter, was busted for doping, and Tim Montgomery, the father of her son Monty, was stripped of his world record in the 100 metres in connection with the BALCO case.

Jones herself was one of the athletes who testified before a grand jury in the BALCO investigation. And in August 2006, one of her urine samples tested positive for EPO, but she was cleared when a backup sample tested negative.

She had vehemently denied all doping allegations, even issuing this emphatic declaration in 2004: "I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs." She also sued Conte after he repeatedly accused Jones of using performance-enhancing drugs and said he watched her inject herself.

"It cost me a lot of money to defend myself," Conte said Thursday. "But I told the truth then and I'm telling it now."