Sentencing delayed for head of troubled Chesco family

The fate of a Willistown Township man who heads a family linked to two high-profile suburban tragedies was delayed this afternoon.

Sean O'Neill Sr., 49, appeared before U.S. District William Yohn in federal court in Philadelphia for sentencing. However, after several hours of testimony, Yohn said a legal question involving immigration will require additional research, and he scheduled Oct. 21 to resume the proceeding.

O'Neill pleaded guilty in April to possession and use of a fraudulently obtained green card, a false claim of U.S. citizenship, illegal possession of a gun silencer with no serial number, and tax fraud.

At issue is whether O'Neill will be ordered to serve time in prison before leaving the United States. He volunteered to return to his native Ireland to avoid deportation.

In a sentencing memorandum, defense attorneys Michael A. Schwartz and Vincent P. DiFabio have portrayed the former owner of Maggie O'Neill's, a popular Drexel Hill pub, as a loving husband, a devoted father of three, and an altruistic community member.

To support their contention that exile is sufficient punishment, they presented dozens of letters attesting to O'Neill's generosity and good character from U.S. and Irish citizens, ranging from clergy to busboys.

The government's memorandum, prepared by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy Beam Winter and Alexander T.H. Nguyen, suggests that O'Neill's net worth of more than $13 million has given him an arrogant sense of entitlement. They argue that his disregard for the law, highlighted by years of cheating on taxes and lying, mandates jail time.

In a supplemental memorandum, the prosecutors increased the prison recommendation from at least 30 months to at least 41 months, arguing that O'Neill reneged on part of his guilty-plea agreement by not paying $300,000 in taxes and refusing to provide information about his overseas bank account.

Yohn rejected that argument. He said the bank account did not generate interest and would not have affected O'Neill's tax liability. And although the judge agreed with prosecutors that O'Neill "might have done more" to raise money to pay the taxes, Yohn said O'Neill had made "a good-faith effort."

The O'Neill family has been under a media spotlight since Sept. 1, 2006, when Sean O'Neill Jr., then 17, accidentally shot and killed a classmate, Scott Sheridan, during an underage drinking party at the O'Neill house.

Several days after the shooting, a search of the family's 14,000-square-foot residence led to state firearms charges against Sean O'Neill Sr. Although the charges were dismissed in Chester County Court in February 2008, they spawned a June 27 raid and federal charges that O'Neill Sr., an Irish native, had lied repeatedly about his criminal past to obtain a green card and purchase illegal weapons.

While Sean O'Neill Sr. was awaiting trial, his daughter, Roisin, 23, was accused of driving drunk Sept. 19, 2008, in the wrong direction on I-476 in Plymouth Township, killing Patricia M. Waggoner, 63, a Brimfield, Mass., grandmother.

Roisin O'Neill pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing Nov. 12 in Montgomery County Court. Her 20-year-old brother returned home in March after completing two juvenile treatment programs.