U.S. athletics chief asks Bush not to pardon Jones

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The new chief of USA Track & Field has asked U.S. President George W. Bush not to pardon or commute disgraced sprinter Marion Jones's conviction for making false statements to federal investigators about her drug use.

"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," Doug Logan said in a letter to Bush released on Tuesday.

Jones, who won five medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, admitted in federal court last October to lying to prosecutors about her steroid use. The admission came after years of denial by Jones that she had used performance-enhancing drugs.

Jones began serving a six-months prison sentence in Texas in March and has surrendered her five Olympic medals.

Logan, named on Thursday to his post with the U.S. sport's governing body, said he had a moral duty to urge Bush to reject Jones's request.

"With her cheating and lying, Marion Jones did everything she could to violate the principles of track and field and Olympic competition," Logan wrote.

"Our country has long turned a blind eye to the misdeeds of our heroes," he added. "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."

Jones is among several thousand offenders who have asked Bush to pardon or commute their sentences.

(Writing by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; editing by Jackie Frank)