Rep. John Tierney (D., Mass.) is facing allegations that he knew about the illegal Internet gambling ring run by his wife, Patrice, and his brother-in-law, Robert Eremian, and that Tierney’s family ties may have influenced his vote against the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Robert Eremian was charged with racketeering, money laundering, jury tampering and illegal Internet gambling in August 2010.
Patrice Tierney received over $20,000 annually from Eremian in exchange for managing various U.S. business dealings, and pled guilty to helping Eremian file false tax returns in 2010.
The Boston Globe reports:
Last month, after Daniel [Eremian, brother of Robert Eremian and Patrice Tierney] was sentenced to a three-year prison term, he called John Tierney "a liar" and said Tierney "knew everything" about Eremian’s gambling operation. Days later, Bob Eremian, in a phone interview from Antigua, echoed his brother, charging John Tierney "threw my sister under the bus for his political career."
Eremian said he could prove that Tierney knew he was running a massive, illegal gambling ring and agreed to meet with a Globe reporter to review "materials" in his possession that would make the point. But he subsequently backed off on the offer. When a Globe reporter arrived at his Antigua home unannounced — greeting him at the table where he had had dinner with John Tierney and his wife on two previous occasions — Eremian refused to answer questions.
Robert Eremian has been in and out of law enforcement’s sights since 1978, when he spent time in prison for his involvement with a drug smuggling operation.
Eremian plead guilty to tax evasion in 2002.
Despite his wife’s intimate involvement with Eremian’s business dealings, John Tierney has insisted that he knew nothing of the illegal gambling ring.
Tierney voted against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006, but the bill passed in the House, and last year Daniel Eremian was one of the first people to be convicted of violating the law.
Tierney is running for reelection against the surging Republican Richard Tisei.