Olympian Montgomery gets 46 months for check fraud

But the judge said others were not to blame in the check case.

"`You should commit bank fraud' is not the same as `You should eat Wheaties,'" Karas said. "There is not a single shred of evidence here that this was anyone else's fault."

A small group of family and friends traveled to the sentencing from South Carolina. Montgomery's father, Eddie Montgomery, asked the judge for leniency, saying the supportive family would help keep his son straight after prison.

Karas praised the family but said close family ties only showed that Montgomery had no difficult childhood or broken home to blame for his wrongdoing.

In 2006, Montgomery was charged in the check scheme, which prosecutors said involved plans to deposit $5 million in stolen, altered or counterfeit checks over three years at several banks. He pleaded guilty in April 2007.

Four months later, according to the Virginia indictment, Montgomery was dealing heroin. He allegedly met four times with a confidential informant and sold a total of 111 grams of heroin for $8,450. He has pleaded not guilty.

In deciding on the prison term, the judge said he would not hold the new charges against Montgomery, since he has not been convicted. But Karas sentenced him to the very top of the 37-46 month range suggested by federal sentencing guidelines.

Montgomery hung his head as the sentence was pronounced. Besides the prison time, Karas imposed five years of supervision after his release and ordered him to pay back $375,000 to a bank he had cheated.

"I know this is a tough day for you," the judge said.

As Montgomery left the courtroom, he nodded and smiled at his relatives.