Saturday, March 08, 2008

Sports stars going to prison for lying to Congress. Well, well.

This time (via the Seattle Times), it is Marion Jones, Olympic gold medal winner. Roger Clemons could be next, and Barry Bonds is not in the clear yet.

DALLAS — Marion Jones began her six-month sentence in federal prison Friday, punishment for lying to investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs and her role in a check-fraud scam.

The former Olympic track-and-field standout turned herself in before noon at Federal Medical Center Carswell, on the Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, Bureau of Prison spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said.

Jones won three gold and two bronze medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, becoming perhaps the most famous and marketable female athlete in the world.

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

Jones 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.



You know, the biggest problem here for these people is not that they lied in front of Congress. No, it’s that they don’t work for the Bush adminstration. That way, you can apparently lie in front of Congress with impunity, and have no fear of reprisals. You know, like Alberto Gonzales....

Yes, I know that lying under oath, in front of Congress, is a crime. But, when the government starts throwing sports stars in jail, I just don’t get that warm and fuzzy feeling of being safe from terrorists or from the Bush administration ripping the Constitution to shreds.

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