Former Olympic track star Marion Jones reported to a federal prison in Texas on Friday to begin serving a six-month sentence for lying to prosecutors about steroid use that helped her win five medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and her role in a check-fraud scam. Jones surrendered to authorities at Federal Medical Center Carswell, located on the Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, in Fort Worth. Jones has been stripped of the Olympic medals, three of which were gold, and all of her performances as of September 2000 have been erased from the record books. In a January hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Karas sentenced Jones to six-month behind bars and 400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release. Judge Karas imposed the maximum sentence suggested in Jones' plea deal, ignoring her lawyers' request for a probation-only sentence. The check-fraud scheme was a major crime, and the wide use of steroids "affects the integrity of athletic competition," the judge said. "I respect the judge's orders and I truly hope that people will learn from my mistakes," a tearful Jones said.
For years, she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, but in October Jones, who lives in Austin pleaded guilty to two charges of perjury. She admitted she had lied to investigators in 2003 when she denied knowing that she took the banned substance tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), known as "the clear," before the 2000 Olympics.
Although the Carswell prison is a facility that specializes in medical and mental health services, it also incarcerates inmates who do not require such care.
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