USA: ATHLETICS - Newspaper says it has evidence that Marion Jones is about to testify to drug use

The Washington Post newspaper is reporting on Thursday (October 4) that track champion Marion Jones has admitted using steroids as she prepared for the 2000 Olympics and plans to plead guilty in court to two counts of lying about her drug use. Jones, who will also plead guilty to an unrelated financial matter in a New York court, made the admission in a letter she sent to close family and friends, the Post reported. The letter was read to The Washington Post by a person who had been given a copy. A person familiar with Jones's legal situation, who requested anonymity, confirmed the relevant facts described in the letter, the newspaper said. According to the letter, Jones said she took the steroid known as "the clear" for two years beginning in 1999. Jones won five medals at the 2000 Games in Sydney, including 100m and 200m gold. In late 2004 the International Olympic Committee opened an investigation into allegations that Jones used performance-enhancing drugs. Jones, 31, has previously denied ever using drugs designed to aid her performance. She said in the letter she faced up to six months in jail for lying to federal agents about her drug use, the Post reported. Jones spoke publicly against the use of drugs when she returned to the sport after the birth of her child. "It's nice to finally have an open platform to state my opinion and most everybody knows that I am for drug-free sport and I always have been and I always will be and of course I can't stand here and talk about details of the case, but that is my position, I have never taken a performance enhancing drug and I never will - it's as simple as that." In New York City in 2004 prior to the Athens Olympics, she told reporters: "I have never, ever failed a drug test. I have taken over 160 drug tests. I have taken drug tests before during and after the 2000 Olympics and have never failed a test.USADA has no information that I ever failed a drug test because I have never failed a test. No information exists anywhere to suggest that I have ever failed a drug test. I have truthfully answered every question asked of me under oath by the government and the federal grand jury during the Balco investigation". Jones went home empty-handed from the Athens Olympics finishing fifth in the long jump and her 4X100 relay team failed to finish after a bad handoff. The Washington Post Web site reported that Jones had written to family and friends to tell them she would plead guilty on Friday to lying to federal agents about her drug use. The New York Daily News, citing law enforcement sources, said Jones would appear in federal court in White Plains, New York, on Friday and plead guilty to two counts of lying to a federal agent. Jones was one of many high-profile athletes who testified before the federal grand jury investigating BALCO, a probe that has resulted in five convictions for illegal steroid distribution.

ITN Source | October 6, 2007

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