FORMER Olympic sprinter Tim Montgomery faces a detention hearing in US District Court on Monday after being indicted on heroin distribution charges.

Montgomery, 33, was arrested on Wednesday in Norfolk, Virginia on an indictment from the US Attorney's Office charging him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin.

A Norfolk Courthouse conformed Montgomery will appear in court on Monday.

Magistrate Judge F. Bradford Stillman will decide whether or not to release the former track star on bond or keep him in custody until his trial date.

Montgomery faces sentencing next month in a New York-based cheque-fraud case that has already seen his former partner Marion Jones, the mother of his son Tim Jr, imprisoned for two months for a minor role in the scheme.

Jones was also jailed for six months for lying to investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs, and is currently serving a six-month prison term with the sentences running concurrently.

Both Montgomery and Jones have been stripped of medals and records they attained in track and field.

Montgomery had won a gold medal in the 4x400 metre relay at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Both sprinters had been implicated in the criminal investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), which prosecutors say distributed steroids to elite athletes.

Montgomery was banned from track for two years for doping in December 2005.