(from Times Union)

ALBANY — Annie George will be confined to a 30,000-square foot mansion for the next eight months because she lied on the witness stand.

That's what a federal judge decided Tuesday in sentencing the 41-year-old woman to home detention, as well as five years probation, for harboring an illegal alien. The immigrant, Valsamma Mathai, who like George is from India, worked for the George family as a live-in servant for 5 ½ years inside George's Llenroc mansion in Rexford.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpev told George she displayed "no respect for the truth whatsoever" when she testified in her own defense during her trial in Albany last March.

"You tried to hoodwink that jury!" Sharpe told George, who was beside her attorney, Mark Sacco. "The system of justice does not work when people want to lie and hoodwink juries."

The judge said he agreed with nearly everything Sacco said on behalf of George. Sharpe, at one point, even said the crime was "not the case of the century."

But the judge stressed that he was aggravated by George's lies in her testimony. He told George she had the right to not testify.

Instead, he said, she took the stand and fabricated. The judge's punishment exceeded the penalty requested by U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian's office, which asked for the same period of house arrest but only two years probation.

The judge said he believed George lied in her testimony when confronted with her own voice on incriminating phone conversations that were recorded.

The prosecution said Mathai worked 17-hour days with no time off or sick leave. They said she slept in a closet while working in Llenroc, the last of three homes in which she worked for the George family.

During the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss highlighted tape-recorded phone conversations in which he said George admitted she employed an illegal servant. George was recorded speaking to Shiju Mathai, the son of the servant, who secretly taped the conversations after federal agents ended the illegal employment of his mother in May 2011. "If she says that she's working here, that's a big problem," George told the son, according to Belliss. "They'll put her in jail for sure."

At another point, George allegedly said: "All it took was one person to say something and look what has happened now."

George testified in her own defense that her husband made all the family's most important decisions, which included allowing the maid to live with them.

Jurors found George guilty of harboring Mathai as an illegal alien between 2005 and 2011. They acquitted George on the more serious charge she faced of harboring an illegal alien for financial gain. That carried a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Sacco argued to the judge that George should receive no home detention because her responsibilities include caring for five children. Sacco later explained to reporters it includes taking the children to soccer practice and swimming lessons.

Ironically, a swimming pool is in the mansion. Sacco said it has no water.

George must surrender the mansion as a forfeiture. She is appealing that ruling and the verdict.

ALBANY — Annie George will be confined to a 30,000-square foot mansion for the next eight months because she lied on the witness stand.

That's what a federal judge decided Tuesday in sentencing the 41-year-old woman to home detention, as well as five years probation, for harboring an illegal alien. The immigrant, Valsamma Mathai, who like George is from India, worked for the George family as a live-in servant for 5 ½ years inside George's Llenroc mansion in Rexford.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpetold George she displayed "no respect for the truth whatsoever" when she testified in her own defense during her trial in Albany last March.

"You tried to hoodwink that jury!" Sharpe told George, who was beside her attorney, Mark Sacco. "The system of justice does not work when people want to lie and hoodwink juries."

The judge said he agreed with nearly everything Sacco said on behalf of George. Sharpe, at one point, even said the crime was "not the case of the century."

But the judge stressed that he was aggravated by George's lies in her testimony. He told George she had the right to not testify.

Instead, he said, she took the stand and fabricated. The judge's punishment exceeded the penalty requested by U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian's office, which asked for the same period of house arrest but only two years probation.

The judge said he believed George lied in her testimony when confronted with her own voice on incriminating phone conversations that were recorded.

The prosecution said Mathai worked 17-hour days with no time off or sick leave. They said she slept in a closet while working in Llenroc, the last of three homes in which she worked for the George family.

During the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss highlighted tape-recorded phone conversations in which he said George admitted she employed an illegal servant. George was recorded speaking to Shiju Mathai, the son of the servant, who secretly taped the conversations after federal agents ended the illegal employment of his mother in May 2011. "If she says that she's working here, that's a big problem," George told the son, according to Belliss. "They'll put her in jail for sure."

At another point, George allegedly said: "All it took was one person to say something and look what has happened now."

George testified in her own defense that her husband made all the family's most important decisions, which included allowing the maid to live with them.

Jurors found George guilty of harboring Mathai as an illegal alien between 2005 and 2011. They acquitted George on the more serious charge she faced of harboring an illegal alien for financial gain. That carried a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Sacco argued to the judge that George should receive no home detention because her responsibilities include caring for five children. Sacco later explained to reporters it includes taking the children to soccer practice and swimming lessons.

Ironically, a swimming pool is in the mansion. Sacco said it has no water.