Llenroc mansion owner Annie George lost appeal

The Second Circuit of the US Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of Annie George,  convicted in 2013 of harboring an illegal immigrant for more than five years.

A three-judge panel also ruled the trial court judge was correct to rule that George must forfeit Llenroc mansion in Rexford, near Albany, New York to the federal government. George's attorneys had argued that forfeiture was an excessive penalty, but the appeals court found George's interest in multimillion-dollar Llenroc, a 30,000-square-foot home overlooking the Mohawk River, was about $100,000, substantially less than the $250,000 maximum fine, the Times Union reported.

Forfeiture is allowed by law because the crime of harboring an illegal immigrant occurred at Llenroc.

Whether Llenroc will actually be seized by the government is unclear, the report said. George's appeals attorney, Mark Baker, is described in media reports as predicting a settlement could be worked out that would allow George's family to stay in the home.

George was convicted in March 2013 of harboring an illegal immigrantm Valsamma Mathai, as a servant from 2005 to 2011 in several homes, the last being Llenroc. Prosecutors presented evidence that Mathai worked 17-hour days with no time off or sick leave and slept in a closet at Llenroc.

Officials testified the woman should have earned $317,144 but got only $21,000. Prosecutors also presented tape-recorded phone calls between George and Mathai's son, recorded by the son, in which George admitted knowing Mathai was in the country illegally and instructing Mathai not to discuss her status. George was sentenced to home detention and probation in 2013.

In her appeal, George's attorney argued the trial judge made errors in instructions to the jury, evidence was insufficient to prove the crime for which she was convicted and the forfeiture order amounted to an excessive fine.

The appeals panel rejected all aspects of the appeal, writing in its decision, "The evidence of George's intent to prevent Mathai's detection by authorities was overwhelming." Although Llenroc, for which ground was broken in summer 1989, was built by the late Schenectady insurance magnate Al Lawrence at a cost reported to exceed $10 million, subsequent owners of the 15-acre estate have paid less than $2 million for it. The appellate ruling includes the detail that the George family paid $1.88 million in 2009 and four years later owed $1.78 million on the property.

Complicating the future of property is that Llenroc is technically owned by a corporation comprised of George family members, with Annie George as a minority shareholder.