Under the category of “certainly can’t help husband’s re-election bid” comes the guilty plea of Patrice Tierney, who’s Democratic husband Rep. John F. Tierney is running for re-election in Massachusetts.
The Boston Globe reports that she pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in BostonĀ to four counts of aiding and abetting the filing of false tax returns for her brother, who is a federal fugitive facing illegal gambling and money laundering charges.
“I take full responsibility for what my part in this was,” Patrice Tierney told U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young, according to the Globe.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston charged that Patrice Tierney helped her brother, Robert Eremian “manage a bank account that collected more than $7 million in illegal gambling profits over seven years,” the Globe reported.
Authorities also alleged that she paid bills for his three children and ailing mother and gave a tax preparer information that resulted in a false tax return.
The Globe said Tierney’s brother ran a large-scale illegal gambling business in the United States from the early 1980s through the beginning of 2010.