New York: Lawyers representing disgraced Olympic sprinter Marion Jones have asked a federal judge to sentence her to probation rather than time in prison.

“She has been cast from American hero to national disgrace,” her lawyers said in a memorandum filed this week with a New York federal court before her scheduled sentencing on January 11.

“The public scorn, from a nation that once adored her, and her fall from grace have been severe punishments,” the memorandum added.