Disgraced Duke is jailed for five years
Shamed aristocrat shackled for U.S. court hearing
THE Dukes of Manchester have shamed the aristocracy down the generations, but Alexander Montagu looks set to eclipse them all with his nefarious behaviour.
Appearing in shackles, His Grace the 13th Duke of Manchester has been sentenced to five years in prison in the U.S. for attempted burglary.
The reprobate aristocrat will be held in the Clark County jail before being delivered to High Desert state prison, Nevada, an establishment whose alumni include O.J. Simpson.
The Las Vegas Justice Department says the sentence is between 14 and 60 months, depending on his conduct behind bars.
On the plus side, His Grace was given ‘204 days credit for time served’. ‘In addition to fees and fines, he was ordered to pay $1,250 in restitution to Norma Lopez,’ Mary Ann Price, the court information officer, tells me from Las Vegas.
Lopez was the unfortunate Las Vegas resident who awoke in the early hours last summer to find a broad, shirtless man striding around her apartment.
Ms Lopez called the police, who detained Montagu, 54.
This will be the thricemarried bigamist Duke’s third spell behind bars. He was jailed twice for fraud in Australia, where his first wife left him after three months when he fired a speargun at her.
His father, Angus Montagu, 12th Duke, experienced similar indignity. He was sentenced to 33 months for conspiracy and wire fraud in Tampa, Florida, in 1996. The trustees of the Manchester Estates ensured he was supplied with money inside to buy protection. He paid his defenders in Hershey Bars.
Will the trustees feel as well disposed towards Alex, who has accused them of stealing ‘billions’ from the estate?
Alex’s great-uncle, Lord Edward Montagu, also did time in an American prison. Good to see His Grace upholding family tradition.