Marion Jones asks Bush to commute 6-month sentence

WASHINGTON — Disgraced Olympic track star Marion Jones has asked President Bush to commute her six-month prison sentence for lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and a check-fraud scam.

The Justice Department confirmed Monday that Jones is among hundreds of convicted felons who have applied for presidential pardons or sentence commutations, but would provide no further details. A pardon is an official act of forgiveness that removes civil liabilities stemming from a criminal conviction, while a commutation reduces or eliminates a person's sentence.

Such applications are reviewed by the Justice Department, which makes a recommendation to the president.

It's unclear when Jones, who won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, made the request. She entered prison March 7 in Fort Worth, Texas.

After frequently denying that she ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted last October she had lied to federal investigators in November 2003. Jones also admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of Tim Montgomery, the father of her older son and a former 100-meter world-record holder, in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged checks.

Jones was sentenced in January to six months in prison and 400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release. She was sentenced to six months on the steroids case and two months on the check-fraud case, but was permitted to serve those sentences concurrently.

The judge in Jones' case said the check-fraud scheme was a major crime, and the wide use of steroids "affects the integrity of athletic competition."

(This version CORRECTS the definition of pardon.)

Comments

[Destin]

I could go either way on this one. As much as I hate cheating athletes, whether it's Tom "Stolen Playbook" Brady, or Marion "Enhanced" Jones, or Barry "Roids" Bonds, or Mark "Andro" McGwire, or Rafael "Brain Fade" Palmero..... I wanna see them judiciously punished.

On the other hand, I can sympathize with some, since it's just like the girl on the Soprano's who was excersize obsessed to the point of almost killing herself to stay thin, to the girls trying to live on 100 calories or less a day to stay thin..... I'm sure alot of athletes are pressured by society into that mentality where they feel that have to find that "little extra" to make the fans happy, the cheers louder, the rewards greater.

Much like thin-disorders are a mental condition, so too would be the same with an athlete who is obsessed at all costs to win.

[robjh1]

Sorry Marion. You do the crime you do the time. Your confession and contrite spirit should have come earlier when you were asked about the whole mess.

[BeyondTheBull]

And, her release date is 10-05-2008. Pay in-full.

[CharlottesvilleVA]

Let me see...mmmmm. NO. You don't lie, cheat, and disgrace your country while causing harm to fall upon your team members and then ask for a free pass. No freaking way.

[Coinyer101]

you must be a member of the bush administration to recieve commutations

[Coinyer101]

commutations are for friends of gw bush,only.

[Coinyer101]

sorry,commutations are for former bush administration employees only.

[Coinyer101]

sorry,commutations are for former members of bush's administration ,only.

[VolvoBirkenstock]

Typical sports figure. They think they are above the law.

[timetorevolt]

She deserve it more than Scotter..

[kahn10]

Yeah, that Sotter Liiby really is an American patriot. Who else would fall an his sword so as to not implicate the other members of the Bush Regime. After all, they only did something so small as espionage, perjury, contempt, and treachery.

[ConcernedAmerican]

Word of advice to Marion Jones: Out a cia agent. It will help.....

[PuppaX]

She's 4.5 months into a 6-month sentence and she asked Bush for a commutation? What a worthwhile thing for our federal government to spend tens of thousands of dollars working on!

[hip dibler]

criminals asking criminals for forgiveness. that's precious.


why would we pardon you marion? because you cried about on tv?


sorry. you should have thought about that when you had the chance.

[triplbee]

As a former runner, I know that the vast majority of world class sprinters are using performance enhancing drugs. I feel sorry for Marion Jones because she was singled out for investigation. She should have told the truth, however, and accepted her fate.

[MizLiz]

If anyone gets their sentence commuted, it will be scooter Libby.

[Leatherhelmet]

Wow, the lefties are avoiding this one like the plague.

She deserves to go to prison so I can understand it if the commutation is denied. On the other hand, she could be useful in a propaganda war against steroid use, so maybe a trade-off is in order.

[SaltySaltillo]

What does this have to do with "lefties"?

[sheikwil]

Bush should pardon the girl, hell he pardon Scooter Libby and he is letting Carl Rove get away with outing an CIA agent, what she did was no where as bad as what those two looser have done.

[tjwisconsin]

A decision has to be made by Bush before it can be criticized. Life is simple. Bush is always wrong, so be anything not Bush is right.

[AnnoyedCanuck]

"lefties avoiding"? That's a stretch.

Let her sit in jail for six months. Who cares?

Speaking of avoiding, what about the deafening silence on the Right about Karl Rove's evasion of a congressional subpoena? He's got a much higher profile and far more power than Marion Jones had. What about his crimes?

Talk about avoiding things like the plague . . .

[ObamAtomic]

Scooter do not serve one day ,why she got to serve?,Scooter is a traitor,period.