Royal Arrest: Romanian Princess Arrested For Cockfighting

By Jobs & Hire Staff Reporter | Aug 16, 2013 02:02 PM EDT

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Romanian princess, HRH Princess Irina the daughter of Romania's last king was arrested by federal authorities together with her husband, a former deputy, for being involved in a cockfighting ring.

Now known as Irina Walker, the Romanian royal has been indicted in the U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, sources say.

The 60-year-old along with her 67-year-old husband John Wesley Walker along with four others were to be arraigned in a Portland federal court last week. Court records show however that the Walkers still have no lawyer.

Amanda Marshall of the U.S. Attorney for Oregon told media, "Cockfighting is illegal under federal law and under the laws of all 50 states. Besides being a barbaric practice, cockfighting jeopardizes public health and safety and facilitates the commission of other criminal acts."

Derbies were held at the ranch of the Romanian princess and her husband. The ranch has been in operation as the venue for cockfighting from April 2012 to April of 2013, reports say. The couple made $2000 a day from this operation according to Oregon authorities.

Four others were arraigned Friday together with the royal and her former deputy husband. The other four are: 62-year-old Mario Perez, 29-year-old David Sanchez, 33-year-old Aurelia Garcia Mendoza, and 48-year-old Luis Virgen Ramirez.

The exiled parents of the princess King Michael and Queen Anne of Romania attended Princess Irina's daughter's baptism in Oregon in the year 1987. At the time, she was still married to John Krueger and the two raised horses in the southern part of the Oregon Coast.

Princess Irina's father Michael I was forced to abdicate when the Communist Party of Romania rose to power in the late 40s. Michael I is a cousin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. He married French-born Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma. The two have four daughters Princess Margarita who is married to the Prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen, Princess Elena who married Alexander Philips Nixon McAteer, Princess Irina, Princess Sophie, and Princess Maria.

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