The saga of the Boxford-bred brothers might have attracted little notice outside the courtroom if not for the fact that their sister is Patrice Tierney, wife of US Representative John F. Tierney, the eight-term Democratic congressman from Salem.
Last week Patrice Tierney testified against Daniel Eremian, and a year ago pleaded guilty to helping Robert Eremian file false tax returns, saying that she believed for years that he was a software consultant for a legal business.
Critics have assailed her claim of ignorance and questioned what her husband knew of her family’s pursuits, but one thing seems clear: Since the mid-1990s, when her brother Robert moved his gambling business to Antigua and watched it prosper, and her husband launched his Washington political career, their divergent paths were destined for collision.
“Frankly, when you look at some of the family history, it’s remarkable the life she’s lived,’’ Patrice Tierney’s lawyer, Donald K. Stern, told a judge at her sentencing earlier this year. “It is remarkable that she has lived the law-abiding - and certainly until this day, until she pled guilty - life that she’s had.’’
Robert and Daniel Eremian started early down a rocky path. Their father, Robert G. Eremian, owned a bowling alley and later a bar; he drank heavily, several people with knowledge of the family said, and the home environment was chaotic. A third brother committed suicide, Patrice Tierney’s lawyer said.
By the time they were in their 30s, Robert and Daniel Eremian had both pleaded guilty to federal drug charges; Robert was sentenced to four years in prison in the Maine case, while Daniel received three years of probation.
