Thread: PA-Hearing continued on assets of illegal-immigrant milliona

Posted on Fri, Oct. 9, 2009


Hearing continued on assets of illegal-immigrant millionaire
By Kathleen Brady Shea



The assets of a self-made millionaire - from 21 properties to a helicopter - dominated testimony at his sentencing yesterday in federal court.

But legal questions on immigration and the IRS stalled the fate of Sean O'Neill Sr., 49, of Willistown Township. U.S. District Judge William Yohn Jr. said more research was needed, and he scheduled Oct. 21 for the hearing to resume.

O'Neill, the patriarch of a family linked to two high-profile suburban tragedies, pleaded guilty in April to possession and use of a fraudulently obtained green card, a false claim of U.S. citizenship, illegal possession of a gun silencer with no serial number, and tax fraud.

At issue is whether O'Neill will be ordered to serve time in prison before leaving the United States. He volunteered to return to his native Ireland to avoid deportation.

In a sentencing memorandum, defense attorneys Michael A. Schwartz and Vincent P. DiFabio portrayed the former owner of Maggie O'Neill's, a Drexel Hill pub, as a loving husband, a devoted father, and a community altruist. They submitted more than 100 letters of support to the judge, reinforcing their positive sentiments with four character witnesses, including a Catholic bishop.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy Beam Winter and Alexander T.H. Nguyen countered in their sentencing document that O'Neill, who failed to disclose criminal convictions when he entered the United States in 1981, has specialized in deception - using a sham marriage to obtain a green card and cheating on his taxes.

In a supplemental memorandum, the prosecutors said O'Neill no longer deserved credit for "accepting responsibility," and increased their prison recommendation from 30 months to 41 months. They said O'Neill reneged on part of his guilty-plea agreement by failing to produce a check at sentencing for $300,000 - "a mere fraction of what he owes in back taxes" - and withholding information about an overseas bank account.

"Everything I really have is mortgaged," O'Neill testified, calling his 14,000-square-foot home "a white elephant" and his wave runners and all-terrain vehicles "toys that nobody wants."

Yohn concluded that the non-interest-bearing Irish bank account would not have affected O'Neill's tax liability. And although the judge said O'Neill "might have done more" to liquidate his assets, he said he believed O'Neill had made "a good-faith effort" in a bad economy.

The O'Neill family has generated publicity since Sept. 1, 2006, when Sean O'Neill Jr., then 17, accidentally shot and killed a classmate, Scott Sheridan, during an underage drinking party at the O'Neill house.

A subsequent police search of the O'Neill property revealed illegal weapons and led to charges against Sean O'Neill Sr. While he was awaiting trial, his daughter, Roisin, 23, drove drunk on I-476 in Plymouth Township on Sept. 19, 2008, killing a 63-year-old grandmother.

Roisin O'Neill is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 12 in Montgomery County Court. Her 20-year-old brother returned home in March after completing two juvenile treatment programs.



Contact staff writer Kathleen Brady Shea at kbrady@phillynews.com.


http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20 ... naire.html

We don't need him or his dirty money. DEPORT HIM!!! Don't let him leave on his own. He needs to be branded with DEPORTATION!!!!

Dixie

Bye Bye!

Friday, October 23, 2009
Millionaire illegal Irishman jailed in US

NIALL STANAGE in New York

A COUNTY Tyrone native who made a multimillion-dollar fortune after emigrating to the United States more than 25 years ago will report to prison in January to begin an 18-month jail term.

Seán O’Neill (49), who lives in Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Wednesday on three counts of immigration fraud, one count of tax fraud and one count of illegally possessing a firearm silencer. In addition, O’Neill has been ordered to pay almost $400,000 (€266,000) in restitution to US tax authorities and a $60,000 fine.

It represents a precipitous fall for a man who seemed to have everything just three years ago. At the apex of his success, O’Neill was estimated to be worth about $13 million. He owned 17 properties across the US and in Ireland. His fortune was built primarily on a construction business; he also owned a restaurant and bar.

Unfortunately for O’Neill, his apparently charmed life was founded on a lie. In order to receive a green card from US immigration authorities in the 1980s, he concealed that he had been convicted of membership of the IRA’s youth wing, Fianna Éireann, in the North in 1977. He now faces deportation after he has served his time in jail.

The unravelling of O’Neill’s life began in an unusual and tragic way. He was regarded as an upstanding member of his community in a prosperous area on the outskirts of Philadelphia until 2006. That year, on a night when he and his wife were away, his son, Sean jnr, held a drink-fuelled party. The son, then 17, at one point produced a pistol owned by Mr O’Neill from beneath a mattress. In the ensuing horseplay, the gun was discharged, shooting a classmate in the face. The school friend, Scott Sheridan, also 17, died from his injuries.

It was during a search related to this incident that police discovered additional firearms and documents that referred to O’Neill’s arrest in the North.

O’Neill initially faced firearms charges in state court, which were dismissed in February 2008. But federal agents raided his 14,000sq ft home in the early hours of June 27th, 2008, handcuffed him in front of his wife, and set in train the series of events that led to this week’s sentencing.

Meanwhile, another tragedy took place. In September 2008, O’Neill’s daughter, RóisÃ*n, driving on the wrong side of the road and with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, crashed into a vehicle driven by a 63-year-old grandmother, Patricia Waggoner. Waggoner died at the scene.

Ms O’Neill’s lawyer, Vinvent DiFabio, said she would appear in court next month, most likely pleading guilty and receiving her sentence on the same day. The sentence, he said, was likely to be “something in the regionâ€