John Daly - turmoil.
|
As if golfer John Daly hasn’t faced enough turmoil in his life, his wife Sherrie, who is due shortly to give birth to their first child, must answer charges of money-laundering for an illegal drug and gambling operation.
Daly, twice a major championship winner claims he had no knowledge of his wife’s alleged activities.
Mrs Daly (27), her father Alvis Miller (60) and Billie Miller (57), surrendered to federal authorities in Oxford, Mississippi and appeared before a US Magistrate earlier this week.
All three face charges that they conspired to conduct transactions using the proceeds of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana sales and an illegal gambling operation between 1996 and March of 2002. The charges against Mrs Daly could warrant a 20-year prison sentence.
John Daly claims he had no knowledge of his wife's alleged activities, authorities said.
The indictment indicates the three were part of a larger conspiracy with unnamed others that acquired and distributed the illegal drugs. It says the conspirators bundled the cash for deposits in banks in amounts just below the $10,000 federal cash transaction-reporting requirement.
The indictment lists 47 similar bank deposits between 1998 and 2001 made to accounts at the Bank of Tennessee and Trustmark Bank. All but seven of the deposits were for $9,500.
Daly met his wife at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2001 and married her seven weeks later at the Bally's Casino in Las Vegas.
"She's not into material things at all,'' said Daly at the time. "She's a good country girl who appreciates somebody looking after her and taking care of her, and she does the same thing for me.''
Daly, a member of the European Tour, has had a chequered career with a ‘Wild Thing’ image involving smashing up hotel rooms, alcohol abuse and racking up outrageous scores.
But he’s best known as the world’s longest driver of a golf ball in tournaments and recently had settled down to life as a golfer/musician travelling to tournament in a motorhome and selling his own logo shirts and memorabilia from each tournament car park.
