Drug Fraud Marion Jones Seeks Clemency From President Bush

An open letter to President Bush

USA
Track & Field has written President Bush to express our concern at
Marion Jones’ application for pardon or commutation of her conviction
for making false statements to federal investigators. Make your own voice heard and join USATF in writing to President Bush. For more information on how to write the White House, click here.

Below is the text of USATF’s letter.

Dear President Bush,

They
say you can’t always believe what you read in the papers. So, when I
read that Marion Jones has applied to you for a pardon or commutation
of her federal conviction for making false statements to investigators,
I couldn’t believe it. She lied to federal agents. She took steroids.
She made false statements in a bank fraud investigation – not
necessarily in that order. She admitted it. And now she apparently
wants to be let off.

As the new CEO of USA Track & Field, I have a moral and practical duty to make the case against her request.

With
her cheating and lying, Marion Jones did everything she could to
violate the principles of track and field and Olympic competition. When
she came under scrutiny for doping, she taunted any who doubted her
purity, talent and work ethic. Just as she had succeeded in duping us
with her performances, she duped many people into giving her the
benefit of the doubt.

She pointed her finger at
us, and got away with it until federal investigators teamed up with
USADA and finally did her in. It was a sad thing to watch, the most
glorious female athlete of the 20^th century in tears on courthouse steps.

Our
country has long turned a blind eye to the misdeeds of our heroes. If
you have athletic talent or money or fame, the law is applied much
differently than if you are slow or poor or an average American trying
to get by. At the same time, all sports have for far too long given the
benefit of the doubt to its heroes who seem too good to be true, even
when common sense indicates they are not.

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. Few things are more
globally respected than the Olympic Games, and to pardon one of the
biggest frauds perpetuated on the Olympic movement would be nothing
less than thumbing our collective noses at the world.

In
my new job as CEO of USA Track & Field, 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.

Respectfully Yours,

Douglas G. Logan

CEO, USA Track & Field