RoyalUrbanite News Centre

American Olympian Marion Jones has been sentenced to six months in prison for lying about steroid use and involvement in a drugs fraud case.
The former sprinter pleaded guilty last October and was sentenced on Friday.

Mother-of-two Jones, 32, had asked US District Judge Kenneth Karas to be "as merciful as a human being can be".

But the judge imposed the maximum under her plea deal "because of the need for general deterrence and the need to promote respect for the law".

Judge Karas said he believed a message needed to be sent to athletes who have abused drugs and as a result, have overlooked the values of "hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship".

"Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models."

He added: "Nobody is above the legal obligation to tell the truth."

Afterwards Jones said outside court: "I respect the judge's order, and I truly hope that people will learn from my mistakes."

Lawyers for the defence had asked the judge to give the former sprinter probation or house arrest.

Having already apologised, retired and given up her five Olympic medals, Jones has been punished enough, they argued.

Jones sentencing included two years' probation and supervised release, during which she will be required to perform 800 hours of community service.

She has been ordered to surrender on 11 March to begin her jail term.

A tearful Jones asked the judge to consider her commitment to her two children, including an infant son she is still nursing.

"Your honour, I absolutely realise the gravity of these offences and I am deeply sorry," she said.

Lawyers for the prosecution had suggested any sentence between probation and six months would be fair.

While it may have been six years later then expected, Roy Jones Jr. and Felix 'Tito' Trinidad are finally scheduled to fight January 19, 2008 at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden in New York.

In 2001, these two fighters were on track to face each other until Trinidad faced Bernard Hopkins. The fight ended with Trinidad being knocked out, putting to rest any hopes of a battle between Jones Jr. and himself. But promoter Don King would not allow these two legendary fighters to end their careers without facing off.

"It's a fight made in boxing heaven," King said at the announcement of the bout. "We're going to start the year with a bang."

The bout entitled 'Bring on the Titans' is being promoted as the fight boxing fans have wanted to see and Don King Productions is giving those fans the opportunity to speak their mind. Made possible by a unique mobile truck called an ADVAN, fans will be able to record their opinions about the fight or whatever else is on their mind. The videos will then be streamed on DonKingNetwork.tv. The truck will appropriately be named 'The Chariot' and will be parked in various locations around New York City leading up to the Jan. 19 fight.

The old website is no more, long live RoyalUrbanite.

As you will have noticed, the old site address now redirects to royalurbanite.com. This is the first of many changes to come.

In addition to the site name change, a facelift will also ensue this year.

At RoyalUrbanite, despite the many challenges faced, our aim is to bring our users the best web experience possible.

With this in mind at some point this year [2008] (don't know exactly when... but definitely this year), the website you have known and loved for the last couple of years will undergo a complete design change.

Some features will be added, some changed and some dropped.

I hope you will all bear with us as the changes take place, as the final result will be worth the wait.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bigglesworth, RoyalUrbanite