Olympic Track Star Marion Jones Sentenced to 6 Months in Jail as Life Comes to Crashing Halt

Today U.S.A. Olympic track star Marion Jones was sentenced to 6 months in prison by Federal Court Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains, NY for 2 counts of lying under oath to federal agents for her steroid use and knowledge of a check-fraud scandal. The International Olympic Committee had stripped Marion Jones of her 3 gold medals and 2 bronze medals.

During sentencing, Jones had asked the judge to be "as merciful as a human being can be," but Judge Karas ignored her plea and sentenced her to the maximum amount of 6 months under the plea bargain agreement she had reached with federal prosecutors. Jones' Olympic track coach Steve Riddick is expected to be sentenced in court later today for his involvement in a check fraud scam. In his sentencing of Marion Jones, Judge Karas stated that he wanted to send a message to athletes that they were role models for youngsters around the country. "Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire and perhaps most important, they serve as role models," Judge Karas stated.

In addition to her 6 months of jail time, Jones will also have to serve 2 years of probation. Jones had pleaded with the judge for a light sentence because she has 2 young boys at home. When she is serving her jail time, her husband Obadele Thompson who is a sprinter from Barbados will be taking care of the children.

According to a report in Sports Illustrated, Marion Jones has lost almost everything in her life including fame and fortune. In addition to being stripped of her Olympic medals, her teammates will also be stripped of their medals as well. In 2005, her former coach Dan Pfaff in which she was forced to pay $240,000 to him sued her. The International Olympic Committee also forced Jones to give back $700,000 in prize money she won in the Olympics. In 2007 she had to foreclose on her $2.5 million home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is currently staying in a small home valued at $211,000 according to Sports Illustrated and has had large legal bills to pay for her attorneys.

In 2003, Marion Jones finally admitted to federal prosecutors that she used performance-enhancing drugs during the Olympics and that she had lied to federal prosecutors in November. Jones told investigators that she had used BALCO drugs from September 2000 to July of 2001.

As for her check fraud scandal, Jones also lied to federal investigators that her former husband and Olympic sprinter Tim Montgomery had been involved in swindling millions of dollars through forged checks.