Former track star, Marion Jones has turned herself in today to begin her 6month stint in Federal Prison. Her sentence was a result of committing perjury by lying about her enhanced drug use (steroids) and check-fraud.
She had until Tuesday to turn herself in. I don't blame her-get it over with. In addition to the 6 mos sentence she also has to do "400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release." (source)
Appeals Court Unmoved..."Mr. Big" Goin' To the Pokey source
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An appellate court has upheld Ronald Isley's 37-month federal prison sentence for tax evasion.
The three-judge panel rejected the 66-year-old R&B singer's argument that his sentence was unreasonable due to his age, poor health and lack of proof that the federal prison system can provide him adequate health care.
In its ruling, the appellate court said the trial judge was correct in sentencing and "best balanced the need to sanction Mr. Isley's `pathological' tax evasion against the need to accommodate Mr. Isley's poor health."
Isley was sentenced in 2006 after being convicted of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return.
Prosecutors said Isley avoided paying taxes numerous times over a three-year period and declared bankruptcy after the IRS seized his yacht, cars and other property in 1997.
He was discharged from bankruptcy four years later, but then did not file tax returns for the years 1997 to 2001 and in 2002 did not sign his return and failed to pay all taxes due.
Isley suffered a minor stroke in July 2004, but got married one year later and continuously performed concerts at that time. He is incarcerated at the Terre Haute Federal Corrections Institution in Indiana and his projected release date is in April 2010.
Isley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was part of the Isley Brothers, whose hits included "Twist and Shout" and "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)."
***
This is a standard case of "don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." Like this article said...he did suffer a stroke, but he was healthy enough to marry and perform. All one has to do is go to youtube. Why do celebrities cry "foul" when they're caught with their hand in the cookie jar? Why do they believe they're EXEMPT from the law? This man is so out cold, he even cashed his DEAD BROTHER-O'kelly Isley's royalty checks, put assets in his wife's name, I mean that's blatant avoidance! Talk about greed. Well, he'll have about 1100+ days to marinate on his dirty deeds. Also, he'll be fine when he's released-America, for some reason, LOVES celebrity felons. He's going to get paid!! It's the truth anyhow.
**scroll to the bottom and get Recognizd! Sign my "Slide Guestbook!**
*The "black teenager's" name is MARTIN L. ANDERSON!*
Feds to Review Boot Camp Death Verdict Source: aol new (emphasis by Ivent)
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (Oct. 13) - Seven former juvenile boot camp guards and a nurse had barely processed an all-white jury's decision to acquit them in a black teenager's death before federal authorities announced they would review the case. Since jurors on Friday acquitted them of manslaughter charges, federal prosecutors likely would have to try another tactic, such as seeking an indictment alleging obstruction of justice, legal experts said.
Henry McFadden was acquitted of manslaughter charges Friday by a Florida jury. But he and his seven co-defendants could face new federal charges in the death of a teen at a Florida boot camp in 2006. "It's too early to say that the final chapter has been written with respect to the criminal justice system in this case," said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney in Miami. Florida civil rights leaders called for federal charges hours after a jury took 90 minutes to exonerate the eight in state court in the death of Martin Lee Anderson, 14.By Friday evening, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tallahassee announced they were reviewing the state's prosecution.
Anderson died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after being hit and kicked by the guards as the nurse watched (and did absolutely nothing!) after he collapsed while running laps. The 30-minute confrontation was videotaped. The altercation drew protests in the state capital and marked the end of Florida's system of juvenile boot camps. Defense attorneys argued that the camp workers were using accepted tactics and that the boy died because of a pre-existing medical condition. Coffey said state prosecutors might have laid a foundation for their federal counterparts to seek an obstruction charge by grilling the eight about inconsistencies and omissions in their written accounts of the last conscious moments of Anderson's life when they testified last week. But lawyer Bob Sombathy, who represented ex-guard Patrick Garrett, said he doubted a federal prosecution would be successful. Sombathy said the state trial showed the medical findings are on the side of the defendants."With a 90-minute verdict after a three-week trial (in the state case), it would be the same result," he said.
Ashley Benedik, defense attorney for nurse Kristin Schmidt, said the federal government might not bring charges."To a certain extent there was more at stake for the state, there was more of a public outcry," she said. At a vigil in the impoverished neighborhood where Anderson grew up, community leaders appealed for calm in the wake of the verdict, which they said was affected by Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet's decision to hold the trial in Panama City, where the boot camp was located."This is not the end of it. We can take it to a higher court and I hope it will be taken to a higher court," said Panama City Commissioner Jonathan Wilson. Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said she was not surprised the guards were acquitted by a "hometown jury." Nor would it surprise her if the federal government stepped in, she said."This is the very type of case you would expect the Justice Department to take a very close look at, just like the Rodney King case," Levenson said. King was pulled over for speeding in Los Angeles' eastern San Fernando Valley, where police officers who said he acted menacingly and refused to follow their orders were videotaped kicking him, pummeling him with their nightsticks and shooting him with stun-gun darts. After a jury acquitted the officers in 1992, riots broke out across Los Angeles and lasted four days, leaving 55 people dead and more than 2,000 injured. Federal prosecutors in the King case presented new evidence during their trial of the officers, including testimony that the officers had lied and had laughed about the incident, Levenson said. In the federal trial, two officers were convicted of violating King's civil rights.
*****
I'm at the point where, I just don't want to get my hopes up.
It sounds wonderful that the Feds are stepping in, but this is a situation of "hope for the best, expect the worse."
The african-community has been jilted by the justice system over, and over, and over again.
That is why I REFUSE to say the pledge of allegiance.
My kids are not to say it either, it's a lie.
We're not "one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all,"
Instead it should say "one community-who is in the correct socioeconomic class-will receive liberty and justice for themselves and their offspring"
Marion Jones Returns Five Medals from Sydney Games Date: Monday, October 08, 2007 credit: blackamericaweb.com
(AP) Her reputation is gone and now so are Marion Jones' Olympic medals. Jones gave back the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics on Monday and agreed to forfeit all other results dating back to Sept. 1, 2000, further punishment for her admission that she was a drug cheat.
The three gold medals and two bronzes were turned over by her attorneys in Austin, Texas. They are en route to U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters in Colorado Springs, and the USOC will return them to the International Olympic Committee.
"We've done what we can," said Jim Scherr, the USOC's chief executive officer. "We caught the person who was not clean. We've got the medals in our possession, and we will return them to IOC."
Fielding a clean team is a priority for a country trying to improve its image in the Olympic movement -- not to mention win the 2016 Games -- and USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth pledged Monday that the U.S. team at next summer's Beijing Olympics will be drug-free.
But when American stars like Jones or Athens gold medalist Justin Gatlin get busted, it doesn't help the cause. Gatlin is facing a ban of up to eight years after testing positive for testosterone and other steroids in April 2006 -- one month before tying the then 100-meter world record.
"Even though it is a negative going back, this will be viewed as positive in our commitment to fielding a clean team," Scherr said of Jones' punishment
*********
I hate to see Marion have to go through this, but she'll be fine.
I guess she just wants to get it over with...no use in puttin off the inevitable.
She stepped up to the plate, better than the men I've seen!
Jones Quits Track Over Steroid Case credits: AOL Sports- (edited for content by Ivent)
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Oct. 5) - Marion Jones' voice never wavered, her reserve never faltered as the words rang out in the silent, stately federal courtroom. (marion jones and mother to the courtroom)
She was a liar and a cheat, she told the judge, her eyes never straying from his face. And so ended years of angry denials by one of the world's most celebrated athletes.
The owner of three Olympic golds and two bronze medals, Jones came clean Friday and admitted she used steroids. She pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, then announced her retirement in a tearful apology outside the U.S. District Court.
"It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust," Jones said, her voice cracking as her mother stood behind her, a strong and supportive hand on her shoulder."I have been dishonest and you have the right to be angry with me. I have let (my family) down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down," she said, pausing frequently to regain her composure. "I recognize that by saying I'm deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt that I've caused you."Therefore, I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."The calm strength she'd displayed in the courtroom was gone, washed away by a flood of tears. She embraced her mother, who told her daughter, "Good job."
The two then climbed into a black limousine with one of Jones' attorneys and drove away, not taking any questions.Jones was released on her own recognizance and was due back in court Jan. 11 for sentencing."It's bittersweet," said Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. " Any time a potential American hero admits to cheating us sports fans, people who watch Olympic games, it's bittersweet."Indeed, Friday marked a stunning fall from grace for the 31-year-old Jones, once the symbol for everything that was right about women in sports. She was powerful, captivating the country with the audacious goal of winning an unprecedented five gold medals at the Sydney Olympics. But she was beautiful and feminine, too, gracing the cover of Vogue with the poise of a supermodel. Marion Jones isn't the only track and field athlete embroiled in controversy over performance-enhancing drugs.
Though she fell short in Sydney — only three of her five medals were gold, the other two bronze — her winsome smile and charming personality made her a star.
Seven years later, she is broke, her reputation is ruined and she is looking at prison time.Jones also pleaded guilty to a second count of lying to investigators about her association with a check-fraud scheme."You're vindicated, but it doesn't make you feel any happier this is going on," said Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency. "The fact that she was using the performance-enhancing drugs is not a surprise. People suspected strongly or knew, but couldn't prove the use."When something seems too good to be true, it probably is." Jones is the biggest name to be brought down so far in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal. But home run king Barry Bonds also has been linked to BALCO, and a grand jury is still investigating whether he lied to federal investigators.Bonds denied ever knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs.
In testimony before a grand jury in 2003, Bonds said he believed a clear substance and a cream given to him by his trainer were flaxseed oil and an arthritis balm."The federal government will vigorously prosecute individuals who provide false statements to its agents," said Scott N. Schools, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.
Suspicions and doping allegations had dogged Jones for years. Her ex-husband, C.J. Hunter, was busted for doping, and Tim Montgomery, the father of her son Monty, was stripped of his world record in the 100 meters in connection with the BALCO case.Jones herself was one of the athletes who testified before a grand jury in 2003 in the BALCO investigation. In August 2006, one of her urine samples tested positive for EPO, but she was cleared when a backup sample tested negative.But Jones vehemently denied all doping allegations, even issuing this emphatic declaration in 2004: "I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs."
She also sued BALCO founder Victor Conte after he repeatedly accused Jones of using performance-enhancing drugs and said he watched her inject herself.That anger and defiance was nowhere to be seen Friday.Even Conte had sympathy for Jones."I don't feel any sense of vindication," he said. "All of us have made poor decisions in our lives and suffered the consequences."Flanked by her attorneys and with her mother a few feet away, Jones sat perfectly straight as she acknowledged her crimes. Speaking into a microphone, her voice was crystal clear when she admitted lying to a federal investigator in November 2003 when he asked if she had used performance-enhancing drugs."I answered that I had not. This was a lie, your honor," she said.
Jones said she took steroids from September 2000 to July 2001 and said she was told by her then-coach Trevor Graham that she was taking flaxseed oil when it was actually "the clear." That's a performance-enhancing drug linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.
"I consumed this substance several times before the Sydney Olympics and continued using it after," Jones told the judge. "By November 2003, I realized he was giving me performance-enhancing drugs."She said she "felt different, trained more intensely" and experienced "faster recovery and better times" while using the substance.
"He told me to put it under my tongue for a few seconds and swallow it," she said. "He told me not to tell anyone."A Sept. 3, 2003, search warrant at BALCO uncovered ledgers, purchases, doping calendars, and various blood-test results connected to Jones and Graham, said Matt Parrella, a federal prosecutor in Northern California.
In the check-fraud scheme, Jones admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of Montgomery in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged checks. Montgomery; Jones' longtime agent Charles Wells; and a former coach, Olympian Steve Riddick, have all been convicted in the scam."This is a sad day for sport. The only good that can be drawn from today's revelations is that her decision to finally admit the truth will play we hope, a key part in breaking the back of the BALCO affair," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.
Prosecutors have suggested to Jones that the prison term will be a maximum of six months, although the judge has the discretion to change that. The maximum sentence on each count is five years and a $250,000 fine, for a total of 10 years and $500,000.
In addition to losing her freedom, she is almost certain to lose her medals, too.The International Olympic Committee opened an investigation into doping allegations against Jones in December 2004, and said Friday it will step up its probe and move quickly to strip her of her medals."Her admission is long overdue and underscores the shame and dishonor that are inherent with cheating," U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said in a statement.
"As further recognition of her complicity in this matter, Ms. Jones should immediately step forward and return the Olympic medals she won while competing in violation of the rules."In Jones' case, that would include the 2000 Olympics, where she won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the long jump and 400-meter relay.
"I am responsible fully for my actions. I have no one to blame but myself for what I've done," she said. "Making the wrong choices and bad decisions can be disastrous." AP Sports Writers Stephen Wilson in London, Dave Skretta in White Plains, N.Y., Bob Baum in Phoenix and Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, N.C., and Associated Press Writers Pat Milton in White Plains, N.Y., and Paul Elias in San Francisco also contributed to this report. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
*********
What Marion did was very uncool, but I have to give her credit for the press conference she gave after her testimony. Very "grace under fire." I believe in the power of confession-to God Almight first, and then others. Once you know God's forgiveness is upon you, and He's on your side you're prepared to endure the fallout. Upon watching Marion's press conference, I was very surprised to find myself sniffing, and tears welling in my eyes. Still she should relinquish the medals since she had "assistance" in order to win.
I believe she's sincere (this time). What a price she's going to pay. God bless her.
