SAN ANTONIO (Texas), Sept 6: Marion Jones, the former athletics star unmasked as a disgraced dope cheat, was released from a US federal prison here on Friday after serving a six month sentence.

The 32-year-old American, who returned the five medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was imprisoned for lying to federal prosecutors when she denied using steroids and lying about a cheque fraud scheme.

Jones began serving her sentence at the minimum-security facility in March and was there throughout last month’s Beijing Olympics.

Jones, who never failed a drug test, pleaded guilty last October to two charges of making false statements to federal investigators in 2003.

Having denied for years that she had ever taken steroids, a tearful Jones admitted she had started using the once-undetectable designer steroid THG in 1999 and continued using it into 2001.

As a result of the admission, Jones was stripped of her five Sydney medals, three of them gold, by the International Olympic Committee.

Jones also admitted lying about what she knew regarding a cheque fraud scheme involving the father of her son Tim, disgraced US sprinter Tim Montgomery, who was convicted for his role in a scheme to cash stolen and forged checks.—AFP