Kai Franklin Graham, 35, of Atlanta, entered the plea in federal court in Greenville, U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd said.
Shirley Franklin was with her daughter at Monday's hearing. She said that the plea made no reference to the source of the $14,000 in money orders, or to drugs, and that her daughter would have to satisfy the conditions of the plea agreement as laid out by the court.
``I, like any parent, am worried about my child and am hoping very much that she will not only take this seriously, but will have a chance to get on with her life after a very bad and abusive marriage, because she has many years ahead of her,'' Shirley Franklin told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Monday.
The mayor said Graham proclaimed his innocence to her repeatedly during the investigation, but he turned out not to be the person he seemed.
Richard Deane, Kai Franklin Graham's attorney, also stressed after Monday's hearing that his client's plea was not related to drugs.
``She has consistently maintained that she wasn't aware of her ex-husband's illegal drug activity,'' Deane said.
Tremayne Graham, Kai Franklin Graham's ex-husband, was indicted in 2003 for conspiring to distribute at least 1,000 kilograms of Mexican cocaine from Los Angeles to Atlanta and South Carolina. After his indictment, Graham ran from authorities for three years until his arrest in June 2006.
During that time, his wife paid $14,000 on the couple's mortgage using more than a dozen postal money orders, Lloyd said. In court on Monday, she admitted to structuring the transaction in an attempt to hide it from the Internal Revenue Service.
Graham was convicted of drug charges in April and is serving life in prison. At his trial, Graham's co-defendants testified that Kai Franklin Graham received thousands of dollars in drug money, as well as portions of $150,000 in drug money invested in an airport concessions company run by her father, David Franklin, the mayor's former husband.
Kai Franklin Graham faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for illegally structuring a financial transaction. She will be sentenced later, Lloyd said.
Prosecutors do not believe the Atlanta mayor knew about her daughter's illegal activity, Lloyd said.
``She fell in love, she trusted someone, and he lied to her, in my presence and otherwise,'' Franklin said of her daughter's marriage. ``It's a lesson to all of us. Everyone who has a gentle exterior is not a gentle person.''
Associated Press Writer Errin Haines in Atlanta contributed to this report.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/12/204968