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Marion Jones To Plead Guilty to Steroid Use
Marion Jones entered a White Plains, N.Y. courtroom to give a guilty plea. After years of vehemently denying steroid use, she is willing to come clean.
The Olympic track star, with her mother at her side, was swarmed by dozens of reporters, photographers and TV cameras as she arrived at a federal courthouse Friday afternoon.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist was scheduled to plead guilty to charges in connection with steroid use. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, and would not provide specific details about the plea.
The New York Times reported that according to two lawyers connected with the case, Jones is expected to plead guilty to one count of making false statements to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and one count of making false statements to federal agents in connection with a separate check fraud case.
According to media reports, Jones admitted using steroids before the 2000 Olympics in a recent letter to close family and friends.
The Washington Post first reported Thursday that in her letter, Jones said she took "the clear" for two years, beginning in 1999.
In her letter, Jones said Graham told her "the clear" was flaxseed oil. "The clear" is a performance-enhancing drug linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.
Jones had steadfastly denied she ever took any kind of performance-enhancing drugs.
Jones said in her letter that she faced up to six months in jail and would be sentenced in three months, according to the newspaper.Now, her admission could cost Jones the five medals she won in Sydney, where she was the most celebrated female athlete of the games. She didn't win the five golds she wanted, but she came away with three and two bronzes, and her bright smile and charming personality made her a star.
In December 2004, the International Olympic Committee opened an investigation into doping allegations against Jones. The IOC said Friday it will step up its investigation and move quickly to strip her of her medals from the 2000 Sydney Games.
Under statute of limitations rules, the IOC and other sports bodies can go back eight years to strip medals and nullify results. In Jones' case, that would include the 2000 Olympics, where she won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the long jump and 400-meter relay.
In addition to any jail term, Jones could face a long competition ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
"The clear" is linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports. Home run king Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi and Detroit Tigers outfielder Gary Sheffield all have been linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative and were among more than two dozen athletes who testified before a federal grand jury in 2003.
Bonds denied ever knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs, saying he believed a clear substance and a cream, given to him by his trainer, were flaxseed oil and an arthritis balm.
Until now, Jones had adamantly denied doping, at one point issuing an emphatic declaration in 2004: "I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs."
She also sued BALCO founder Victor Conte in 2004 for $25 million after he repeatedly accused Jones of using performance-enhancing drugs and said he watched her inject herself.
In her letter, Jones said she didn't realize she'd used performance-enhancing drugs until she stopped training with Graham at the end of 2002. She said she lied when federal agents questioned her in 2003, panicking when they presented her with a sample of "the clear,'' which she recognized as the substance Graham had given her.
Jones' career has been tarnished the last several years by doping allegations against her. In August 2006, a urine sample tested positive for EPO, but Jones was cleared when a backup sample tested negative.
She also was among the athletes who testified before a BALCO grand jury in 2003. Her former boyfriend, Tim Montgomery, also testified, and was given a two-year ban for doping in late 2005. Michelle Collins and Justin Gatlin, who also trained with Graham, were banned for doping violations, too.
Graham has a Nov. 26 trial date after being indicted in the BALCO case last November on three counts of lying to federal agents. Graham, who has pleaded not guilty, helped launch the government's steroid probe in 2003 when he mailed a vial of "the clear'' -- previously undetectable -- to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Darryl Seibel, spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee, declined comment on whether Jones would lose her medals until legal proceedings are completed.
The Washington Post also reported that, in her letter, Jones said she lied about a $25,000 check given to her by Montgomery, who pleaded guilty in New York in April as part of a criminal scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged checks. He has yet to be sentenced.
Wells, Jones' longtime agent, and Olympian Steve Riddick, another of Jones' former coaches, also were convicted in the scam.
Bank records indicated Jones had received a $25,000 check from one of the alleged conspirators, Nathaniel Alexander, who shared office space with Riddick and also was convicted. The check never cleared, according to records, and Jones was never charged.
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