Wife of Mass. Congressman Gets 30 Days

BOSTON — The wife of U.S. Rep. John Tierney has been sentenced to 30 days behind bars on tax charges for helping her brother conceal income from an illegal offshore gambling business.

Prosecutors had asked Patrice Tierney be sentenced to two years of probation, with three months in home confinement. Tierney's lawyer asked for straight probation.

A U.S. District Court judge said at a Thursday sentencing hearing Tierney should be given jail time as a deterrent. The sentence will be followed by five months of home confinement as part of two years of supervised release.

John Tierney is a Democrat who's represented Massachusetts' 6th Congressional District since 1997. He says his wife was betrayed by her brother and believed his income came from selling or licensing software to legal Internet gambling businesses.

His wife says she's surprised by the sentence.