Marion Jones joined the club of people who sue for defamation even though they know that their target told the truth.
Bloomberg.com
Marion Jones Gets Six-Month Term for Obstruction
By Patricia Hurtado
Jan. 11, 2008
Marion Jones, the record-breaking sprinter who tearfully confessed she used steroids after years of public denial, was sentenced to six months in prison for lying in two federal grand jury investigations.
Jones, 32, of Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of obstruction of justice in probes of steroid use in sports and a check cashing scheme allegedly involving fellow athlete Tim Montgomery...
``This was a worldwide lie,'' U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas said at a hearing today in White Plains, New York. He also sentenced her to 800 hours of community service and two years of probation.
...She was the first athlete convicted in the almost five-year-old U.S. government steroid investigation.
...He ordered her to serve 400 hours of community service for each of the two years of probation. Her service should be with children and emphasize the need to tell the truth, the judge said.
Steroid Probe
In court today, Jones cried as she addressed Karas, asking not to be separated from her two sons, ages 7 months and 4 years.
...Karas turned aside her appeal for leniency, saying that, at her plea hearing in October, she failed to fully admit that she used banned substances.
... She said she believed she was taking ``flaxseed oil'' at the time.
``I am troubled by that statement,'' Karas told Jones today. ``That's a very difficult thing to believe that a top- notch athlete, knowing that a razor-thin margin makes the difference, would not be keenly aware and very careful about what he or she put in her body, and the effects.''
Impeding Investigation
Jones was charged with impeding the San Francisco steroid probe of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or Balco, based in Burlingame, California, and the separate Manhattan investigation of the bad-check cashing scheme.
In addition to pleading guilty to taking substances before the Sydney Olympics, Jones admitted lying about knowing that Montgomery deposited $200,000 in counterfeit checks in a bank account. She lived with Montgomery, the father of her older son, in 2005...
Steve Riddick, 56, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist who was once Jones's coach, was also charged in the check-kiting case. He was convicted of bank fraud after a trial in May and sentenced late today by Karas to 63 months in prison.
Montgomery pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy and bank fraud. His sentencing hasn't been scheduled.
...Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball's all-time home-run leader, was indicted in November on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to a grand jury about steroid use. Prosecutors said the outfielder told a panel in 2003 that he never knowingly used banned drugs, according to his indictment.
...Congress is returning to the issue of steroids in baseball following last month's report by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, which linked more than 80 players including Pettitte and Clemens to performance-enhancing drugs. The same House committee held hearings in 2005 and urged a tougher drug policy for the sport.
...In February 2006, Jones settled a $25 million defamation lawsuit against Victor Conte, the Balco founder. Conte, who claimed he supplied Jones with performance-enhancing drugs including THG, served a four-month jail term after pleading guilty to steroid distribution...
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