By Matthew Russell Lee, Periscope video
SDNY COURTHOUSE, February 14 – Art gallery owner Mary Boone after pleading guilty to tax fraud was sentenced on February 14 to 30 months in prison to be followed by a year of supervised release with 180 hours of community service.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said that tax fraud is a crime that can and must be deterred. His sentence provided for 90 hours of community service with the non-profit Free Arts NYC or one like it, and 90 hours of service to New York City Board of Education beginning, he said, in June 2021.
Unlike two recent Judge Hellerstein sentencees, Norman Seabrook and Murray Huberfeld, Boone through her lawyer Robert S. Fink did not announce an appeal and ask for bail pending appeal. On Worth Street outside the SDNY courthouse, Inner City Press asked Boone what she thought of the community service requirement. She did not answer, swarmed by photographers as she awaited the white luxury car she drove off in. Periscope video here.
Her tax fraud involved mis-characterizing as deductible business expenses such things as Louis Vuitton and Hermes charges of nearly $20,000, beauty salon bills of $24,380, and $15,000 in jewelry. Fink said this came from mental problems, feeling like the world was ending. He emphasized that Boone has been dropped by Chase Bank and the Century Club and even by her therapist, who felt that reporting on her from the pre-sentencing report made other clients doubt she could keep their confidences. Judge Hellerstein told Fink he personally fought to keep such PSRs confidential but that other judges who prioritized transparency won out. He emerged after hearing Boone's written statement which pleaded to be kept out to jail to continue her work with his sentence, including the community service. Fink requested the Women's Camp in Danbury, Connecticut. Boone is to turn herself in, on May 15 before 2 pm. Whether as some surmise there will be a whistleblower payment is not known...
