(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-03 11:37

WHITE PLAINS, New York - Former Olympic champion Marion Jones says she has been punished enough and should not have to go to prison for lying about doping and check fraud.

In court papers filed on New Year's Eve, Jones' lawyers asked a U.S. judge to give her probation when he sentences her next week.

"She has been cast from American hero to national disgrace," the memo said. "The public scorn, from a nation that once adored her, and her fall from grace have been severe punishments. ... She has been stripped of her gold medals, her accomplishments, her wealth and her public standing."

Jones admitted in court in October that she lied to government investigators. Outside court, the former athletics champion announced her retirement and said through tears, "It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust."

She has since relinquished her five Olympic medals.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors suggested she be sentenced to six months in prison at most. In pre-sentencing papers filed December 21 prosecutors said anything between no time and six months would be appropriate.

That filing included a doping calendar from the files of the San Francisco-based Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative indicating Jones used several performance-enhancing drugs. Prosecutors said the evidence shows "a concentrated, organized, long-term effort to use these substances for her personal gain."

They said her false statements "derailed the government's investigative efforts."

In the check fraud scheme, Jones admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of fellow athletics champion Tim Montgomery, the father of her older son, in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged checks.

Montgomery, who once held the world record in the 100 meters, pleaded guilty in the conspiracy.

Jones' papers include letters from friends about her good works improving sports facilities in Belize and working to immunize infants in Ghana. They said she is devoted to her two children and is essential to their care "in every way that a mother can be."