Marion Jones says her joy on being released is "beyond words"

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Marion Jones says her joy on being released is "beyond words"

Sep 5, 2008

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Disgraced Olympian and former UNC track star Marion Jones described her joy at being reunited with her husband and two sons as “beyond words” Friday after she was released from federal prison after serving a six-month sentence for lying to federal agents about her use of steroids.

Jones, 32, left the minimum security facility in San Antonio at about 9 a.m. EST, according to LaTanya Robinson of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in San Antonio. Jones had been in a federal halfway house since Aug. 19. Robinson said Jones has two years of probation remaining.

In a statement later Friday, Jones said: “My joy at being reunited today with my husband and two sons is beyond words. This life-altering journey has been difficult, but my faith in God and the support of family, friends and fans around the world have sustained me.

“I am deeply grateful for the prayers, letters and emails sent over the last six months. My focus now is on my family, and I kindly ask that our privacy be respected.”

Once the most celebrated female athlete in the world, Jones won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

After long denying she ever had used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted last October she lied to federal investigators in November 2003.

She also admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of Tim Montgomery, the father of her older son, in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged checks. Montgomery and several others have been convicted in that scam.

In January, Jones pleaded guilty to charges of perjury, and reported to prison in March.

Jones was also was ordered to do 400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release.

Most Recent Comments

God bless Marian Jones. May He help her and her family rebuild their lives together.

"Marion Jones was more than a track star at UNC she was a starter on the Championship Women's basketball team. She was a star athlete before the steroids."
Nobody knows when the steroid use began. It is very likely that she took enhancing drugs while at UNC. If you doubt this, then you might believe in John Edwards's version of the affair timetable and also the tooth fairy.

She should have told the truth in the beginning. She lied and that is why she went to prison. Sometimes lying is really worst than the punishment she would have gotten for telling the truth. How many famous people have gone to prison for lying and not for what they actually did? How will we ever know when she started the steriods? Her fame and image is forever tarnished just like OJ, John Edwards, Bill Clinton and many others. As a child my parents always taught me that it is always better to tell the truth than to lie. You might can excuse the deed-- but the lying is deliberate and planned. There is never an excuse to lie. Lying is never a mistake -- it is well calculated.

She should have never gone to prison to begin with. It's none of the government's business if she used performance-enhancing drugs. Think about how much of our money was wasted on this. What a joke.
readme

That's hilarious...sad part is, you probably actually believe what you wrote. Of course it's the government's business. Taking steroids is illegal. Lying to the government about taking steroids is illegal. She should have gone to jail, as she did. Probably should have been longer. I'm inclined to believe she got off with ONLY 6 months because she WAS a well known athlete. Now...she's a well known disgrace. The saddest part of it is she was probably good enough without the drugs.

"She should have never gone to prison to begin with. It's none of the government's business if she used performance-enhancing drugs."

She didn't go to prison because of the drugs, she went to prison for perjury. Moral of the story, don't lie!

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