(ATR) USA Track and Field is urging U.S. President George Bush to reject a petition from disgraced sprinter Marion Jones for a commutation of her prison sentence.
“To reduce Ms. Jones' 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. I must right the ship that Ms. Jones and other athletes nearly ran aground. I implore you, Mr. President: Please don't take the wind out of our sails, USATF CEO Doug Logan writes in a letter to the President.
Jones, 32, is in a federal prison, serving a six month sentence for lying to investigators about her use of performance enhancing drugs and for her involvement in a check fraud scheme with former partner Tim Montgomery, father of one of her two sons.
Jones has been stripped of the five medals won at the Sydney Olympics and her name has been struck from the IOC records of those Games.
She has roughly five weeks left to serve at Carswell Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
With a short time left in prison, a commutation of her sentence would apply more to the 400 hours of community service she is supposed to serve in the two years after her incarceration is complete.
The U.S. Justice Department will review the application from Jones and possibly issue comments to guide the president’s decision. Jones’ application is one of hundreds that have been sent to the White House for President Bush’s consideration. Typically, pardons are granted in the final days of the presidential term, which for Mr. Bush will come in January 2009.
The Department of Justice declined to comment on when its recommendations could be expected, but clarified that Jones was not seeking a pardon, only a commutation.
Written by Eric Connelly.
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