Olympic Gold Medalist Tim Montgomery Arraigned for Heroin Trafficking

Tim Montgomery, the Olympic star who once held the world record for the 100-meter dash, was ordered held without bond by the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was arraigned on charges of trafficking in heroin. Montgomery, the father of the son of jailed Olympian Marion Jones, had been arrested last week on charges of having trafficked in heroin in amount in excess of 100 grams (approximately 3.5 ounces) of heroin.

The disgraced Olympian was officially charged with conspiring to possess heroin with the intention to distribute it in the eastern District of Virginian in 2007 and 2008. Montgomery entered a plea of not guilty and a trial was set for July 9, 2008.

This is not the first time Montgomery has run afoul of the law. He pleaded guilty to fraud charges in April 2007, having participated in a fraudulent check scheme that also involved Marion Jones. Montgomery, Jones and 10 others cashed counterfeit and stolen checks worth $1.68 million between December 2002 and August 2005. He will be sentenced for bank fraud and conspiracy on May 16^th in New York. He faces 37 to 46 months in prison for his part in the crime.

The judge in the narcotics trafficking case cited the upcoming sentencing as a basis for denying bail. James Broccoletti, the lawyer representing Tim Montgomery, explained, "The court agreed to a reconsideration of the bond depending on what the court does in New York. Obviously, if he is sentenced to a period of incarceration then bond here is a moot issue."

Tim Montgomery won the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in the 4x100 meter relay and set the world record in the 100-meter dash in 2002. He lived with Marion Jones after she left her husband, C.J. Hunter, the Olympic shot-putter who pulled out of the 2000 Sydney Olympics after failing drug tests. Jones was imprisoned in November 2007 after pleading guilty to having having lied to federal agents over the BALCO scandal.