Former track star Marion Jones will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss her use of anabolic steroids, her perjury conviction and her time in prison as a result on Wednesday, October 29, 2008.
Jones says she lied when the feds presented her with a designer steroid known as “the clear” during the course of the BALCO steroid investigation.
“They pulled out a vial and pushed it across the table,” Jones said during the interview, which is scheduled to be broadcast Wednesday on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
“When they showed it to me and they said this is the substance, and I knew that I had taken that substance, I made the decision that I was gonna lie and I was gonna, you know, try and cover it up.”
Her admission of the use of banned performance enhancing substances led to a conviction for perjury. The judge decided to make an example out of her for lying about steroid use and sentenced her to six months in prison.
BALCO figure Trevor Graham was sentenced to 12 months house arrest for lying to a federal investigator about his relationship with steroid dealer Angel Heredia. Graham was the track coach who blew the whistle on the undetectable anabolic steroid THG distributed to elite athletes by BALCO mastermind Victor Conte. It seems that federal prosecutors were attempting to use the perjury laws to make an example out Trevor Graham for his involvement with doping in sports.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston rejected the government’s request for a 10-month prison sentence for Graham, much like she rejected the feds’ 30-month prison sentence for Tammy Thomas. Both BALCO figures have avoided prison. Barry Bonds and Dana Stubblefield seem likely to avoid prison as well; they are awaiting sentencing by Judge Illston.
To reduce Ms. Jones’s sentence or pardon her would send a horrible message to young people who idolized her, reinforcing the notion that you can cheat and be entitled to get away with it. A pardon would also send the wrong message to the international community. Few things are more globally respected than the Olympic Games, and to pardon one of the biggest frauds perpetuated on the Olympic movement would be nothing less than thumbing our collective noses at the world. (emphasis added)
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With her cheating and lying, Marion Jones did everything she could to violate the principles of track and field and Olympic competition. When she came under scrutiny for doping, she taunted any who doubted her purity, talent and work ethic. Just as she had succeeded in duping us with her performances, she duped many people into giving her the benefit of the doubt. (emphasis added)
She is not in prison for doping. Her sentence is not based on cheating in sports or the Olympic Games or the Olympic movement. Thus, she should not be punished by the criminal justice system for anything more than perjury. She was convicted and sentenced for this crime and this crime alone.
Her doping offenses have been penalized by anti-doping agencies, etc. already. Mr. Logan feels that her sentence for perjury should take into account her use of banned substances. She was not indicted for using steroids; she was indicted for lying about her use. This is an important distinction. Justifying harsh sentences based on factors not directly related to the crime is an abuse of the system. It should not be used to make an example of athletes who use steroids.
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