Brooke Astor and Anthony Marshall Story

Brooke Astor was an American heiress, philanthropist and novelist. Born in 1902, Brooke Astor died in 2007 at the age of 105. Controversy surrounded the the Brooke Astor estate and her son Anthony Marshall. Today Anthony Marshall was found guilty of 14 of the 15 counts against him. Anthony Marshall got one to three years in prison for scheming to get millions from the Brooke Astor estate.

CNN News reports Anthony Marshall faced serious charges including first-degree larceny and scheming to defraud. Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said another serious conviction was Anthony Marshall giving himself a raise of one million dollars to handle the affairs of mother Brooke Astor. Seidemann objected to bail pending appeal and recommended a sentence of 1.5 to 4.5 years in prison and restitution of $12.3 million.

Defense attorneys are concerned about Anthony Marshall's health and intend to appeal the verdict. Anthony Marshall former attorney, Francis Morrissey, was convicted of five counts related to the case including attempting to defraud Brooke Astor.

In his closing argument to the jury in the Anthony Marshall case, Seidemann stated, "These defendants, two morally depraved individuals, preyed on a physically and mentally ill 101-year-old woman to steal millions of dollars -- dollars that she had intended to go to help the lives of ordinary New Yorkers."

Brooke Astor was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and died in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Brooke Astor wrote two volumes of memoirs and was a novelist.

Anthony Marshall is Brooke Astor's son with John Dryden Kuser, her first husband. Kuser, who died in 1964, was rumored to be physically abusive and adulterous during their marriage. Frances Kiernan states in a 2007 bio about Brooke Astor that Kuser broke Brooke's jaw during a marital fight when she was six months pregnant with Anthony. Brooke Astor divorced Kuser in 1929.

In 1932, Wikipedia reports Brooke Astor married Charles H. Marshall and was widowed in 1952. In 1953, Brooke Astor married Vincent Astor and was widowed again in 1959.

Brooke Astor went on as an appointed member of the Astor Foundation, Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and charitable giver to the New York Public Library. In 1998, Brooke Astor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her charitable work.