NO GIFT FROM GOD
A man faces up to 43 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine after a Federal jury refused to believe his argument that an erroneous government refund check was a gift from God. The check for $836,939.19 was the result of a computer mistake. Actually, William H. Irvin III, an Army veteran of the Persian Gulf War, was entitled to $183.69 from the government finance office in Indianapolis. Irvin’s defense was that the money was a gift from God because it appeared after he visited a lonely road one night and prayed for the means of self sufficiency. Irvin is an airport security officer who makes about $12,000 a year. However, the jury convicted him Wednesday of five criminal charges related to the check that he received and cashed in June 1992. He was convicted of knowingly spending government money as if it were his own, filing a false tax return and laundering some of the money through cashier’s…
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