 |
| Patricia Driscoll |
Patricia
Driscoll was convicted today in Washington DC Federal Court on five counts
of first-degree fraud, wire fraud and income tax evasion.
Driscoll,
the estranged former girlfriend of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, was found guilty
on two counts of tax evasion, two counts of wire
fraud and a single count of first-degree fraud after being accused of
misappropriating at least at least $500,000 earmarked for the Armed
Forces Foundation to assist military members and
their families.
Driscoll was convicted of using those funds to purchase jewelry,
alcohol and other personal items, as well as to pay personal attorneys’ fees
and expenses for her security firm, Frontline Defense Systems. Statements
from the AFF – which shut down as a result of the controversy – set the amount
of misappropriated funds at more than $900,000.
Three additional federal counts of mail fraud and interfering
with the administration of IRS laws were dismissed.
Driscoll and Busch endured a highly
publicized breakup in 2014, when she accused the former Monster Energy Cup
Series champion of domestic abuse. No charges were filed, however, with
prosecutors citing a lack of evidence.
In a biography on the Frontline Defense Systems
website, Driscoll described herself as spending “the majority of her career in the
narcotics and intelligence world.” During her relationship with Busch, Driscoll
characterized herself to him and others as “a paid assassin,” displaying photos
of deceased terrorists and claiming responsibility for their deaths. Busch had
claimed she once returned from a clandestine nighttime outing wearing a trench
coat over a blood-stained evening gown.
In
an attempt to land a television reality show based on her life, Driscoll
created and starred in a video called Pocket Commando, which showed her firing
a series of high-caliber weapons and saying, "There's a lot of sensitive
things that I work on. Most of them, you're never going to see."
At
trial, Driscoll’s attorney blamed Busch for her legal problems, saying he had
turned the NASCAR community against her.
Today's wire fraud and first-degree
fraud convictions each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison,
with the minimum sentence for her tax evasion conviction set at five years.
Her
attorney says Driscoll will appeal.
No comments:
Post a Comment