Former San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor has struck a deal to repay $2 million to a non-profit ceated by her late husband. O'Connor allegedly took the money to feed a
billion dollar
gambling habit.
O’Connor, 66, appeared in federal court and pleaded not guilty to a charge of misappropriating the funds as part of a deferred prosecution. Under the arrangement, she has two years to try to repay the money taken from the R.P. Foundation, a nonprofit set up by her late husband, Robert O. Peterson, co-founder of Jack in the Box. During that time, the case will not proceed and could be dismissed if she complies with the conditions of the agreement. Prosecutors said O’Connor had $1 billion in gambling winnings between 2000 and 2009 — her preferred game was video poker — but her losses during the same period exceeded that amount. Iredale said she had a net gambling loss of $13 million. Prosecutors described her current financial condition as “destitute.” At one time, her fortune was $40 million to $50 million, Iredale said.
O'Connor, a Democrat, was mayor from 1986 until 1992. Her lawyers claim that her gambling compulsion may have been caused by the brain tumor for which she was recently treated. Federal prosecutors allege that the gambling began long before her illness.
Labels: crime, Democrats, gambling, San Diego
