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Ex-travel agent gets year at Club Fed By Jessica Smith A former Ashland travel agent will spend a year in prison and pay $247,333 to the clients she defrauded. Katherine D. Driskell, 40, will not be eligible for early release, U.S. District Judge James Redden ruled Friday. A year in prison "is the least that should be given," Redden said after noting that he was "surprised" by the number of customers who fell victim to billing fraud at Driskell�s now-defunct business, Europa-Let Tropical Inn-Let. Though the court could have ordered Driskell to spend 18 months in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Thomson said Driskell�s willingness to cooperate with investigators persuaded him to recommend the year-long sentence. "She basically confessed ... from the beginning and helped us put the case together," Thomson said. "We were able to do this case the easy way." Driskell worked out a deal with prosecutors in July, pleading guilty to a federal fraud charge. The Bureau of Prisons is expected to determine where Driskell will serve her sentence, which won�t begin until July 1. Angie LaNier, Driskell�s attorney, said prosecutors agreed to the delay so her client can secure assets to apply to court-ordered restitution totaling $247,333. Driskell�s assets, including a home in Jacksonville, are tied up in divorce proceedings. In court, Driskell offered a $6,500 check toward her restitution. "I never intentionally set out to hurt anybody," Driskell said after she left the courtroom. "I apologize for all the pain and anguish this caused, and I will work as hard as I can the rest of my life to make everything right." Once Driskell is released from prison, she will be placed on three years of probation. Conditions of her release are to include that she maintain only one checking account and amass no new credit charges. Friday�s sentencing brings to an end a nearly two-year probe into Driskell�s travel agency. The company booked alternatives to hotel-style lodgings in Europe and the Caribbean, ranging from country cottages to Greek villas. But unhappy customers began stepping forward in 1999; many complained they were double-billed for lodging or charged for accommodations they never received and in some cases didn�t ask for. Driskell closed up shop when Ashland police cited her for aggravated first-degree theft later that year. Because many of her clients were out of state, federal investigators took control of the case. Driskell also was accused of failing to return security deposits and writing bad checks for payments of debts and wages. Though prosecutors have suggested Driskell spent the money on trips and eating out, she and her attorney denied that the money was used to fashion a "high lifestyle." Instead, Driskell told the court she "robbed Peter to pay Paul." She said a second business she purchased in late 1997 was a financial mess, leading her to use money from Europa-Let clients to keep the other company afloat. "I felt I could pull the companies out of danger," Driskell said, "and I had every intent ... to make good with the clients." Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.