Addicted mayor gambled away $1 billion in charity money

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
2/14/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Maureen O'Connor admitted to havign a gambling addiction.

The former Democratic Mayor of San Diego, Maureen O'Connor, has reached a deal with prosecutors to repay some $2 million in money she gambled away that was intended for charity.

Maureen O'Connor was mayor of San Diego from 1986 to 1992.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The frail 66-year-old O'Connor, entered into a deferred prosecution deal where she will repay some $2 million she allegedly improperly took from a charitable trust established by her late husband, Robert O. Peterson.

Peterson is best known for establishing the Jack in the Box chain of restaurants and made a fortune in the hotel and banking industries. He left a sizeable part of that fortune in a charitable trust.

O'Connor, who had access to the money admitted in court that she has a gambling addiction. By her estimate, she gambled away about $1 billion in family money at casinos in the Los Angeles and San Diego area between 2008 and 2009. She is now destitute.

Her health also appears to be poor. Although only 66, she is frail and walks with the aid of a cane.

O'Connor, a Democrat, was the mayor of San Diego from 1986 to 1992, and built a reputation as a maverick. Prior to that career, she was a well-regarded swimmer and physical education teacher.

� 2013, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Keywords: Maureen O'Connor, gambling, Jack in the Box, charity, plea deal, prosecution

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1 - 1 of 1 Comments

judy gray
4 months ago
My heart goes out to her. I can see how she did this. I live in Nevada and know that the casinos make it very easy for a person to become addicted. There is the thrill of victory when you win, and of course the agony of defeat when you walk away with nothing. It is common for widows to lose their homes as they sit and push the buttons in the hopes of winning the big prize. If you are unwell it is even easier. I pray that she will find peace and a better understanding of the loneliness she must have felt when she lost. In Nevada I think the published reports of winnings for the casinos was over $3 billion just last year. You can see by this who really wins. May God bless her on her journey.

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