FameCrawler : prison sentence

New Beginnings: Marion Jones Pregnant With Third Child

Sassy Smith — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:07:00 GMT

Former U.S. sprinter Marion Jones, 33, who served a six-month prison sentence for lying to prosecutors about her steroid use, is pregnant with her third child.

Jones spoke recently at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Africana Studies, and talked of her time in prison and how she hopes to carve out a new beginning for herself and children.

Marion made the decision to not allow her two sons visit her in the Texas prison - she knew saying goodbye each time would be too painful. She was also aware of others who were enduring more pain than she - women in prison who were and had been there much longer.

Softely weeping at the memory, Jones said, "All I had to do was look at my neighbor and see that she had been in 15 years and know that her kids hadn't seen her in 15 years. Yet she was able to endure . . . endure for much longer than six months."

Jones has regrets about the choices she made about important decisions in her life.

"I wish that at certain moments in my career that I really had taken a break and stepped back from the fame, the money, and the success, and thought about the decision I was making. One of my biggest regrets is that I did not do that at pivotal moments in my life and my career."

Although very difficult, Marion said her jail term was oddly liberating.

"I went through so many emotions," she admitted. "But when I first went in there was this feeling of relief. People are surprised by that. But it was relief in the sense that I knew I'd done what I had to do. It was the start of a new beginning for me."

She added, "People realize I messed up. I stood up to it. I took what came because of it and now I'm certainly not hiding in a case somewhere. I'm not a hermit. But I certainly don't plan to do a tell-all that's going to rip people up like you see some athletes do. That's not the message I want to share. That's not the message I want to be remembered by.

"My message is positive. Yes, mistakes were made. But how can those mistakes help you?"

Although what she did was wrong, Marion has set an example for her children by owning up to her mistakes and facing the consequences.

Marion's first son Tim Montgomery Jr. will be six next month (dad is Marion's former boyfriend Tim Montgomery) and her second boy with husband Obadele Thompson will be two in July. No word on her exact due date with baby number three.

[Source]

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Tameka "Tiny" Cottle Talks About Losing Her Daughter

Karl Erikson — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:31:00 GMT

Former Xscape band member Tameka "Tiny" Cottle sat down with Essence magazine and opened up about the heartwrenching loss of her daughter, Leyah, with rapper T.I. Tameka says that while she was pregnant the sac that held her girl was split in two. By the time Leyah reached 16 weeks, the sacs still hadn't combined the way they were supposed to, and doctors told Tameka that her daughter might get tangled up in her umbilical cord.

At the time, losing her daughter never occurred to her, says Tameka. Everything appeared under control, but that's when things turned sour. She went to a specialist, who determined there was no heartbeat. Leyah Amore was stillborn 6 months into the pregnancy, and the heartbroken mother and father spent hours in the delivery room with her following her birth.

Leyah recounts, "After Leyah was born, I kept her in the room with me the whole day. They placed her in the little basket and we dressed her in an outfit and had a blanket wrapped around her. They came and got her because her body went cold and I wanted her back so they warmed her body again and I kept her. Everybody came to visit her and then me and T.I. had our time alone with her."

Tiny says she hardly ever visits Leyah's grave because the memories make her "too sad." Even after the devastating grief from losing their daughter, Tiny and T.I. found great solace in each other, and soon got engaged again.

Leyah "taught me not to take life for granted," says Tiny. It "definitely brought us closer in our relationship."

Tiny and T.I. are also parents to Clifford, 4, and Major, 9 months. From a previous relationship, Tiny also has a daughter, Zonnique Jailee, 12. T.I. has Messiah, Domani, and Deyjah.

T.I. is preparing to start a one-year stint in prison next month because of an illegal firearms possession charge.

Source

Disgraced Olympian Marion Jones Leaves Prison

Sassy Smith — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:21:00 GMT

Marion Jones,32, former U.S. sprinter, has reportedly exited from federal prison in Texas earlier today. She served a six-month sentence for lying to prosecutors about her steroid use that perhaps (most likely) made it possible for her winning five medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

After denying using performance-enhancing drugs for years, Jones finally plead guilty to two charges of perjury and was sentenced by a federal judge in New York in January. She prison stint began on March 7.

Marion has been stripped of all of her medals, three of which are gold and any mention of her performances as of September 2000 have been removed from all record books.

Jones has two children, Tim Montogomery Jr.,5 (dad is Tim Montomery) and she and husband Obadele Thompson, have one child together, who turned one in July.

I'm sure it must have been difficult to be away from her kids - especially her baby, when the first months of bonding are so vital. Lessons learned, lessons learned.

[Source]

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