Glimmer of Hope for British Beauty Jailed for 24 Years

Danny Buckland
The Mail on Sunday
May 28, 2000

NEW evidence could free a beautiful young British woman from a 24-year sentence in an American maximum-security prison.

Chantal McCorkle, 30, was given the huge sentence after a jury convicted her and husband William of a 45-million GBP property fraud.

McCorkle protested her innocence throughout the case and the severe sentence shocked many but was claimed to be justified because of the number of 'ordinary' investors allegedly swindled.

Now an appeal against the conviction  is being lodged following evidence that suggests the jury which sat through complex financial arguments was tainted.

Private investigators have produced affidavits claiming that a bailiff gave the jury foreman damning information about Buckinghamshire-born McCorkle.

Another jury member is said to have had a relative who had subscribed to the couple's scheme yet kept quiet.  He is also alleged to have claimed during the trial that the couple were guilty and would be convicted.

'Chantal clearly did not get a fair trial and she is suffering in a horrible jail because of that.' said her mother Diane Forrester, 51, from her home in Slough yesterday.

'The evidence is damning and the judge should order an immediate re-trial.  They made an example of Chantal and William because they were young and making money.'

Chantal, a former Maidenhead schoolgirl, prospered in Florida after she married businessman William McCorkle, who launched a lucrative business buying and selling repossessed homes.

With a stylish English wife at his side, he made a string of glossy TV commercials, which drew their inspiration from TV evangelists, enticing a host of customers.

They enjoyed a 1-million GBP home, luxury cars and fine clothes, with Chantal's vivacious smile epitomizing success in the wealth-worshipping South.  But an Internal Revenue Service investigation seized 23 bank accounts, including several off-shore deposits and 3 million GBP cash, and ended with 151 charges of fraud, money-laundering and making false statements.

Despite defense claims that Chantal McCorkle had done nothing to dupe investors and that there was a compensation scheme for anyone who felt wronged, the jury convicted and a jail term longer than that for a domestic murder was handed down.

Fiona Mactaggart, Labour MP for Slough, said: 'This confirms my feeling that the trial was deeply unsatisfactory.  I think there is a prima facie case for a retrial.  The sentencing policy in this case was evil.

'What breaks my heart is that, if they get away with it, she will spend her fertile years in prison and will never have the opportunity to have children.  That is more than a 24-year sentence for a woman.'

McCorkle's case has now been taken up by human rights group Fair Trials Abroad, which is also supporting calls for a retrial.