Track star Marion Jones pleads guilty to doping deception

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty Friday to lying to a federal investigator about taking banned substances.

"It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you I have betrayed your trust," she said outside the courthouse Friday.

"Making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing for me to do, and I am responsible fully for my actions."

She asked for forgiveness, adding that she understood that a simple apology "might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and the hurt I have caused you."

"Because of my actions, I am retiring from the sport of track and field, a sport which I deeply love," she said.

Further, Jones said the example of her "wrong choices and bad decisions" would "be used to make the lives of many people improve." Jones -- who had long vehemently denied taking steroids -- appeared in U.S. District Court in White Plains, New York, before Judge Kenneth Karas.

Jones, 31, told the court that her then coach, Trevor Graham, first gave her steroids in 1999, telling her it was flaxseed oil. She said she took the steroid known as "the clear," or THG, from that time until 2001, covering her participation in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

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