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The sister of an offshore gambling venture and wife of Massachusetts Congressman John Tierney, Patrice Tierney, began serving her 30-day prison sentence weeks earlier than scheduled.
Tierney, 60, began serving her sentence on the 15th, though she was not required to start serving until Feb. 28.
Ms. Tierney is accused of tax fraud in connection to her brother, Bobby Eremian’s, Antiguan-based sports betting operation, Sports Off Shore (also known as SOS and PlayLegal.com). In recent years, the company has had a close affiliation with Carib Sports out of Belize. Both were among the first sportsbooks to obtain licenses in the Caribbean online gambling jurisdiction of Antigua though neither are still licensed there.
"She wanted to begin serving her sentence as soon as she could," said Jennifer Flagg, a spokeswoman for Patrice Tierney. "She continues to fully accept responsibility for her actions and wanted to do everything she could to show that."
Eremian has been in trouble with the law before. In 2000, Antigua extradited the Sports Off Shore owner back to the US on tax evasion charges.
In the early years of offshore gambling on the island of Antigua, Eremian had acted briefly as the local industry’s outspoken representative.
Eremian is known as an expert chef who imports meats into Antigua regularly. In the past he has hired local Antiguans in non-essential positions at his home-based company in order to help those who could not find employment on the island.
- Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
