Feds: Ex-Oilers owner gets probation extended

[November 02, 2012]  RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington will serve three extra months of federal probation in a 2010 perjury case, U.S. authorities and his attorney said Thursday.

Pocklington's probation was to end Oct. 26, but it was extended at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Riverside on Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Antoine Raphael said.

Authorities are looking into whether Pocklington may have withheld personal financial information from probation officials and will use the additional time to investigate those concerns, he said.

Pocklington's attorney, Brent Romney, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the inquiry began because attorneys for Pocklington's creditors in a civil lawsuit wrote a letter to U.S. authorities alleging he hadn't disclosed a bank account during his bankruptcy case.

Romney said the allegations are untrue.

"From my point of view, it's an attempt to keep the heat on Mr. Pocklington ... to see if they can force some type of civil settlement," Romney said.

Pocklington pleaded guilty to perjury in May 2010 after prosecutors alleged he concealed assets during bankruptcy proceedings.

The Oilers won five Stanley Cups under Pocklington's ownership, but he stunned fans by trading Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.

[Associated Press]

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