Jan 11, 2007
Disgraced Olympic athlete Marion Jones was sentenced Friday (1/11) in to six
months in prison for lying to investigators about performance-enhancing drugs
and a check-fraud scam. The athlete's speed and smile made her an
international superstar until steroid use led to her downfall. The sentence
took place in a White Plains, New York courtroom. The judge sentenced Jones
despite her plea that he not separate her from her children. The sentence
completes the stunning fall for a woman who was once the most celebrated
female athlete in the world. A runner and long jumper, she won three gold and
two bronze medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. However, in October, Jones
told
the judge that she lied to a federal investigator in November 2003 when she
denied using performance-enhancing drugs. She said she took steroids "several
times before the Sydney Olympics and continued using it after."

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