marion jones

Five time Olympic medallist Marion Jones has been sentenced to six months in prison by a US court.

United States District Judge Kenneth Karas locked up the disgraced American track star for perjury and her part in a cheque fraud.

During a grand jury investigation into San Francisco steroids scandal lab BALCO in 2003, Jones said that she had never used performance-enhancing drugs .

She even sued BALCO founder Victor Conte after he repeatedly accused Jones of using steroids, saying he had watched her inject herself.

But in October last year the 31-year-old admitted that she had lied to federal investigators and had taken steroids 'several times before the Sydney Olympics and continued using it after'.

On the day she pleaded guilty, prosecutors said a 2003 search warrant at BALCO uncovered ledgers, purchases, doping calendars, and various blood-test results connected to Jones and former coach Trevor Graham.

Scam

Jones also admitted lying about her knowledge of a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged cheques involving Tim Montgomery, the father of her son Monty.

Montgomery and several others, including former Olympic champion Steve Riddick, have also been convicted in the cheque scam. Riddick is due to be sentenced later on Friday.

Once the world's most celebrated female athlete, Jones struck gold in the 100 and 200 metres and the 4x400m relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She also won bronze medals in the 4x100-metre relay and long jump.

But in October she handed back all of her Olympic medals, clearing the way for the IOC to officially revise them and wipe her name from the record books.

During Friday's hearing in New York, Jones pleaded with the judge, begging him not separate her from her children "even for a short period of time".

"I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be," she implored.

But, despite prosecutors not pushing for a custodial sentence and her own lawyers saying that she had been punished enough, Karas insisted on jailing the former sprinter.

i personally believe she got what she deserved😡