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Marion Jones Admits to Steroid Use
Marion Jones, who won five medals at the Sydney Olympics, says she took the steroid known as "the clear" for two years beginning in 1999, according to a letter Jones sent to close family and friends.
(Arne Dedert - AFP)
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Jones, who recently married former sprinter Obadele Thompson, said in her letter that she planned to fly from her home in Austin and meet her mother in New York, where she was scheduled to enter the plea today in U.S. District Court. She said she faced up to six months in jail and would be sentenced in three months. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a maximum of five years in prison for one count of lying to federal agents.
Reached at their Austin home, Thompson declined comment on the letter, portions of which were read to him, saying: "The process has to go through before you can make any comments. . . . I'm sure at the appropriate time, all necessary comments will be made." He did not dispute the contents of the letter. He said Jones was unavailable to comment.
When questioned in 2003 by federal agents investigating Balco, Jones lied about using the clear even though agents presented her with a sample of the substance and she immediately recognized it as what she had taken at Graham's behest, Jones said in the letter. She said she lied because she panicked and wanted to protect herself and her coach.
Jones also said in the letter that she lied about a $25,000 check given to her by track athlete Tim Montgomery, the father of her young son who pleaded guilty in New York this year for his part in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and money-laundering scheme.
Jones said she told investigators she knew nothing about the deposit, even though Montgomery told her it was from the 2005 sale of a refurbished vehicle and was partial payment for $50,000 she had loaned him.
"Once again, I panicked," she wrote. "I did not want my name associated with this mess. I wanted to stay as far away from it as possible."
