Saturday, May 17, 2008

Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery was sentenced to 46 months in prison yesterday for his part in a multimillion-dollar fake-check scheme.

The former track star, 33, hung his head as U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas imposed the sentence in White Plains, N.Y.

Montgomery pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy in the bank fraud and money laundering plot. Prosecutors said he had a hand in depositing bogus checks worth $1.7 million.

Montgomery retired in 2005 after he was banned from track and field for doping. He has a child with Marion Jones, the track superstar who now is in prison for lying about the check scam and about her use of performance-enhancing drugs.

"I've had everything I ever wanted in life. I've stood on the top of the mountain," Montgomery told the court. But now, "the gold medal, all those people cheering, that was part of another world. . . . In jail, my status is gone."

The judge told him, "Being a track star does not somehow disable someone from saying no.

"I know this is a tough day for you. Think about those kids," the judge said in an apparent reference to Montgomery's four children.

After the sentencing, Montgomery nodded and smiled at his parents, siblings and a girlfriend.

Montgomery still faces drug-dealing charges in Virginia. In deciding on the prison term, the judge did not hold the new charges against him.

The check case also ensnared Montgomery's former coach, gold medalist Steve Riddick, and Jones's longtime agent, Charles Wells. Both pleaded guilty.

-- From News Services