ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 19, 1996 TAG: 9606190063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
A pottery heiress charged with trying to extort $6 million from her father has avoided a prison sentence by pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Joan Maloney was indicted on four counts of extortion against her father, Williamsburg Pottery Factory founder James E. Maloney, and she faced up to 40 years in prison if found guilty.
Instead, Joan Maloney pleaded guilty Monday to disorderly conduct in return for a suspended six-month jail sentence.
Maloney, 53, was arrested in October on charges that she tried to blackmail her 84-year-old father. Police have never said what the blackmail threat involved.
Maloney's attorney, Michael Morchower, said Tuesday that the agreement to plead guilty to the lesser charge was reached last week.
``Our purpose was not to go public with matters that are best dealt with in the privacy of a family setting,'' said Morchower.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Maloney was also fined $1,000, placed on supervised probation for three years, ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, required to submit to a psychological evaluation and to cooperate with whatever treatment is recommended.
According to court documents, Maloney demanded money from her father in return for not disclosing improprieties she said he had committed. She allegedly repeated her threats in three follow-up conversations with her father and his second wife, Kim Maloney.
Joan Maloney said she needed the money because her brokers had lost all of her investments.
She was arrested Oct. 27, at a Crestar Bank in Lightfoot as she arrived to pick up the money from her father.
Court documents show that James Maloney ultimately concluded that his daughter's problems may have been caused by mental and emotional problems, perhaps rooted in the death of his first wife and Joan Maloney's failed marriage.
In court papers, she acknowledged ``a series of bouts with mental illness, which included patient hospitalization at various times, culminating with a continuing need for therapy four hours a week for eight years.''
James Maloney was not in the courtroom to watch his daughter plead guilty, but he was satisfied with the resolution, said Williamsburg-James City County Commonwealth's Attorney Jeff Fairbanks.
``This is still his daughter. After you cut through everything, it's a family problem,'' Fairbanks said. ``I think it's a fair disposition.''
Maloney's father owns The Pottery near Williamsburg, which attracts millions of visitors each year for bargain-priced items as diverse as dried flowers and Elvis Presley memorabilia.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB