Patricia Driscoll, former girlfriend of Kurt Busch, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison Thursday in U.S. District Court for her role in which she stole from a non-profit charity designed to help military members and their families.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon also ordered Driscoll to serve 36 months supervised release, a period of home confinement, 360 hours of community service, and to pay $154,289 in restitution and $81,779 in a money judgment forfeiture.
The sentence has been stayed pending appeal, meaning Driscoll will not have to report to prison at this time.
Brian Stolarz, attorney for Driscoll, said in a statement: “The court issued a thoughtful and considered sentence based on the totality of the circumstances in this case and stayed it pending appeal. With the stay, we can continue to pursue justice for Ms. Driscoll.”
A federal jury convicted Driscoll on Nov. 29, 2018, on two counts each of wire fraud and tax evasion and one count of fraud. Driscoll was the former executive director and president of Armed Forces Foundation and developed ties with the NASCAR community.
Prosecutors stated in court documents that Driscoll “solicited donations to AFF by making representations that 95% of donations would go to benefit military members and their families, when she knew that she was diverting significant portions of AFF’s funds to pay for her personal expenses, such as her personal attorneys’ fees, her personal property tax, and her for-profit company’s expenses.”
Prosecutors recommended Driscoll be sentenced for 70-87 months and pay a judgment of $472,954, stating in court documents: “The Court saw the tremendous harm that the defendant’s conduct caused: not only did the defendant’s embezzlement from AFF deprive countless veterans of benefits that AFF would have otherwise provided to them, but the defendant’s lies and misrepresentations so disillusioned donors and volunteers that AFF was unable to continue its mission. This is not a case where the defendant’s lack of education, resources, or training contributed to the offense; rather, this is a case where the defendant perpetrated a fraud to support her ego and lavish lifestyle.”
The Armed Forces Foundation shut down in 2016.
Driscoll and Busch broke up in 2014. She alleged afterward that he slammed her head against the wall in his motor home three times in September 2014 at Dover International Speedway.
NASCAR indefinitely suspended Busch on Feb. 20, 2015 — two days before the Daytona 500 — after a Kent County (Delaware) Family Court Commissioner concluded that “it is more likely than not” Busch committed an act of domestic abuse against Driscoll at Dover. NASCAR reinstated Busch a few days after the Delaware attorney general declined to seek charges against Busch in March. Busch missed three races while suspended.
