Politics & Government

Congressman John Tierney's Wife to Plead Guilty to Tax Charges

Tierney says his wife exhibited 'willful blindness' toward her brother's illegal offshore gambling, but not intentional law-breaking.

Congressman John Tierney's wife is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to helping her brother hide income from an illegal off-shore gambling business, saying she was "willfully blind" to his illegal activities.

Boston court documents revealed Tuesday that Patrice Tierney, 59, of Salem, was charged with four counts of aiding and abetting the filing of false federal tax returns for her brother, Robert Eremian. Eremian was indicted along with his and Patrice's brother Daniel Eremian on counts of racketeering, money laundering and running illegal gambling businesses, filing false tax returns and witness tampering, among other charges.

Mrs. Tierney allegedly helped her brother, Robert, who has a record of tax evasion going back to 2002, hide income from an offshore gambling organization based in Antigua, by managing a bank account in Massachusetts through which illegal funds from Eremian's Caribbean gambling enterprise were transferred to Eremian's family members in the U.S.

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Congressman Tierney, who represents Massachusetts' 6th congressional district, issued a statement Tuesday night defending his wife and saying that her assistance with the illegal transactions was a result of her being too trusting.

He said the ordeal started eight years ago when his wife, along with the courts and probation office, trusted Eremian when he said he wanted to move overseas to sell software for legal gambling businesses. He added that Patrice now sees that trust in her brother was misplaced when he asked her to pay his personal and family obligations from the bank account in question, that she "deeply regrets" playing a part in forwarding his earnings as sales commissions when in fact they were illegal gambling profits, and that she acknowledges that she should have investigated further where the money was coming from.

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"Accordingly, Patrice has entered into an agreement with the United States Attorney's Office wherein she accepts full responsibility for being 'willfully blind' to what her brother was doing," Tierney said.

If convicted, Patrice Tierney could face up to three years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Ironically, the Eremian brothers' indictments were among the first, such indictments under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which Rep. Tierney voted against in 2006.

Tierney faces a challenger in his reelection bid, Republican Bill Hudak. Tierney and Hudak are scheduled to debate Thursday on Fox 25.


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