e***@yahoo.com
2005-02-05 19:55:47 UTC
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=C58663B2-7FCE-4DF7-83EC-6751877EF653
Prison for Maureen Blackthorne
LAST UPDATE: 1/28/2005 4:59:11 PM
Posted By: Jim Forsyth
WOAI San Antonio TX
Maureen Blackthorne, the formerly high living wife of millionaire
medical equipment salesman and convicted 'quad mom' killer Allen
Blackthorne, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison
today for lying on her and her husband's 2000 federal income tax
returns.
Blackthorne, who's divorce from her husband, who is serving life in
federal prison for hiring three men to kill his ex wife, 'Quad Mom'
Sheila Bellush in Sarasota Florida in November of 1997, becomes final
in eight days, looked tired and weary as she told U.S. District Judge
Fred Biery that she takes responsibility for her actions and apologizes
for them. Biery told Blackthorne that it appeared 'she hasn't gotten
much sleep in the past few days.'
Prosecutors in 2003 indicted Blackthorne for evading nearly $400,000 in
taxes on her husband's income from an Oregon based medical supply
company. She was acquitted on three counts, and convicted of evading
taxes only on the form she filed in 2001, after her husband had been
sent to prison.
During her trial, Blackthorne testified that her husband took care of
the finances and the taxes, and the reason she dealt with sums of cash
of just under $10,000 was because withdrawing any money out of their
accounts was difficult with federal prosecutors monitoring their
transactions.
Blackthorne's attorney, Max Sechrest, said the sentence is 'fair' and
he expects her to be out of prison sooner.
"Approximately six months, more or less, after she begins serving her
sentence, she will be transferred to a halfway house here in town,"
Sechrest said. He said Blackthorne will not appeal her conviction and
sentence because she does not want to put her children, aged 10 and 7,
through 'that ordeal again.'
Biery said Blackthorne must report to prison June 13th. He also
recommended that Blackthorne, who is a native of Venezuela, not be
deported after serving her sentence, but said a final decision will be
up to immigration officials.
Assistant U.S. District Attorney Bill Harris said they were hoping for
more than a year and a day in prison.
"We think this carries a message to the community that filing of false
income tax firms does carry a real punishment," Harris said.
Biery said he sentenced Blackthorne to a year and a day, rather than a
year, because any sentence in excess of 12 months makes her eligible
for sentence reduction benefits.
Blackthorne declined to comment to reporters after leaving the
courtroom.
Her sentencing brings to an end a drama that has gripped south Texas
since Bellush was found stabbed and slashed to death in her Florida
home, with her 23 month old quads playing around her body.
Police quickly connected the murder to Uvalde resident Joey Del Toro.
Deltoro implicated his cousin Sammy Gonzalez, who said his friend
Daniel Rocha had paid him to find somebody to kill Sheila Bellush.
Rocha was an employee of a local golf club and would frequently play
golf with Blackthorne.
Testimony in Blackthorne's sensational June 2000 trial indicated
Blackthorne confided to Rocha that he wanted his wife dead because he
thought she was abusing the couple's daughters. Rocha transmitted
Blackthorne's request to Gonzalez, who hired Del Toro to commit the
crime. Del Toro is serving life in prison in Florida, Gonzalez pled
guilty and was sentenced to 17 years in prison, Rocha was convicted and
sentenced to thirty years. Testimony indicated Blackthorne had never
met Gonzalez of Del Toro, and joked on the stand that somebody with his
wealth would not have hired 'the three stooges' to commit a murder.
Blackthorne, who's real name is Allan Van Haute, was sentenced to two
life terms in federal prison after being convicted of murder in a
courtroom across the hall from the room where his wife was sentenced
today. Maureen Blackthorne was never implicated in Bellush's murder and
was never charged in that case. The case became the basis for the best
selling Ann Rule true crime novel, "Every Breath You Take."
Allen Blackthorne was brought back from prison to testify in his wife's
trial, claiming that he was innocent and that federal prosecutors were
'liars.'
Maureen Blackthorne became a familiar figure to local reporters
covering the criminal investigation into her husband, welcoming
reporters into the family's $700,000 home in an upscale northwest side
neighborhood while Allen, if he wasn't playing golf, would sit in a
lawn chair on the driveway with the 64 ounce cola cup he constantly
carried.
Prison for Maureen Blackthorne
LAST UPDATE: 1/28/2005 4:59:11 PM
Posted By: Jim Forsyth
WOAI San Antonio TX
Maureen Blackthorne, the formerly high living wife of millionaire
medical equipment salesman and convicted 'quad mom' killer Allen
Blackthorne, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison
today for lying on her and her husband's 2000 federal income tax
returns.
Blackthorne, who's divorce from her husband, who is serving life in
federal prison for hiring three men to kill his ex wife, 'Quad Mom'
Sheila Bellush in Sarasota Florida in November of 1997, becomes final
in eight days, looked tired and weary as she told U.S. District Judge
Fred Biery that she takes responsibility for her actions and apologizes
for them. Biery told Blackthorne that it appeared 'she hasn't gotten
much sleep in the past few days.'
Prosecutors in 2003 indicted Blackthorne for evading nearly $400,000 in
taxes on her husband's income from an Oregon based medical supply
company. She was acquitted on three counts, and convicted of evading
taxes only on the form she filed in 2001, after her husband had been
sent to prison.
During her trial, Blackthorne testified that her husband took care of
the finances and the taxes, and the reason she dealt with sums of cash
of just under $10,000 was because withdrawing any money out of their
accounts was difficult with federal prosecutors monitoring their
transactions.
Blackthorne's attorney, Max Sechrest, said the sentence is 'fair' and
he expects her to be out of prison sooner.
"Approximately six months, more or less, after she begins serving her
sentence, she will be transferred to a halfway house here in town,"
Sechrest said. He said Blackthorne will not appeal her conviction and
sentence because she does not want to put her children, aged 10 and 7,
through 'that ordeal again.'
Biery said Blackthorne must report to prison June 13th. He also
recommended that Blackthorne, who is a native of Venezuela, not be
deported after serving her sentence, but said a final decision will be
up to immigration officials.
Assistant U.S. District Attorney Bill Harris said they were hoping for
more than a year and a day in prison.
"We think this carries a message to the community that filing of false
income tax firms does carry a real punishment," Harris said.
Biery said he sentenced Blackthorne to a year and a day, rather than a
year, because any sentence in excess of 12 months makes her eligible
for sentence reduction benefits.
Blackthorne declined to comment to reporters after leaving the
courtroom.
Her sentencing brings to an end a drama that has gripped south Texas
since Bellush was found stabbed and slashed to death in her Florida
home, with her 23 month old quads playing around her body.
Police quickly connected the murder to Uvalde resident Joey Del Toro.
Deltoro implicated his cousin Sammy Gonzalez, who said his friend
Daniel Rocha had paid him to find somebody to kill Sheila Bellush.
Rocha was an employee of a local golf club and would frequently play
golf with Blackthorne.
Testimony in Blackthorne's sensational June 2000 trial indicated
Blackthorne confided to Rocha that he wanted his wife dead because he
thought she was abusing the couple's daughters. Rocha transmitted
Blackthorne's request to Gonzalez, who hired Del Toro to commit the
crime. Del Toro is serving life in prison in Florida, Gonzalez pled
guilty and was sentenced to 17 years in prison, Rocha was convicted and
sentenced to thirty years. Testimony indicated Blackthorne had never
met Gonzalez of Del Toro, and joked on the stand that somebody with his
wealth would not have hired 'the three stooges' to commit a murder.
Blackthorne, who's real name is Allan Van Haute, was sentenced to two
life terms in federal prison after being convicted of murder in a
courtroom across the hall from the room where his wife was sentenced
today. Maureen Blackthorne was never implicated in Bellush's murder and
was never charged in that case. The case became the basis for the best
selling Ann Rule true crime novel, "Every Breath You Take."
Allen Blackthorne was brought back from prison to testify in his wife's
trial, claiming that he was innocent and that federal prosecutors were
'liars.'
Maureen Blackthorne became a familiar figure to local reporters
covering the criminal investigation into her husband, welcoming
reporters into the family's $700,000 home in an upscale northwest side
neighborhood while Allen, if he wasn't playing golf, would sit in a
lawn chair on the driveway with the 64 ounce cola cup he constantly
carried.