PORTLAND, Ore. – Princess Irina Walker, the daughter of the last king of Romania, was hobnobbing two years ago with European royalty in Bucharest to celebrate the 90th birthday of her regal father.
On Friday, she and her husband, a former sheriff’s deputy, appeared in federal court to face charges of running a cockfighting business on their ranch in rural Oregon. Both pleaded not guilty and were released pending trial.
Government prosecutors say Irina and John Walker staged at least 10 cockfighting derbies between April 2012 and April 2013, bringing in as much as $2,000 a day. Blades were attached to the birds’ legs, spectators were charged admission, and food and drink were sold, the indictment said.
Prosecutors say 24 marijuana plants, 24 guns and a large amount of ammunition were found during this week’s raid. No charges have been filed in connection with that discovery.
Irina Walker, 60, is the third daughter of former Romanian King Michael I. The 91-year-old Michael, one of the few surviving heads of state from World War II, was forced to abdicate by the communists in 1947. Sent into exile, he lived in Switzerland and worked as a commercial pilot and briefly as a chicken farmer.
According to a statement on the royal family’s website, King Michael expressed “deep sorrow” about Princess Irina being arrested and hopes that the American justice system and Oregon courts will act as quickly as possible. He did not mention his son-in-law and added that he hopes the presumption of innocence will function.
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The Walkers are charged with operating an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to violate the federal Animal Welfare Act. Each of the offences carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of the ranch.
Authorities arrested 16 other people in the case.
Irina Walker moved to the U.S. from Switzerland in 1983 with her former-husband John Kreuger, according to her daughter, Angelica Kreuger of Oregon. She said her parents were school friends in Europe and her father fell in love with Oregon.
Angelica Kreuger said her mother is proud of her heritage – she keeps a large picture of her father in the living room – but never lived a lavish lifestyle. As for herself, Kreuger said being the child of a princess only got her picked on in school.
Never a particularly social person, Irina Walker rode horses, gardened, studied the Bible and raised two children while living in Myrtle Point. She later divorced her husband and, in 2007, married a man who had been a family friend and neighbour – former Coos County sheriff’s deputy John Walker.
Kreuger said she had warned her mother about Walker, whom she called “bad news,” but her mother didn’t want to believe it. She said Walker made her mother feel beautiful and special, and her mother would do anything he said.
“My mom’s kind of naive, that’s the easiest way to put it,” Kreuger said. “She doesn’t really know the bad side of people.”
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AP writer Alison Mutler, who covers Romania, contributed to this report.
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