WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge has spared Michael Jackson's former general manager prison time after she tearfully blamed a failure to file her U.S. tax returns on being overwhelmed with handling the affairs of the pop superstar and her ailing mother.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay sentenced Raymone Bain on Tuesday to five years' probation and payment of $202,422 in federal and local back taxes for the 2006-2008 tax years.

Prosecutors say Bain was earning $30,000 a month as president and general manger of the Michael Jackson Co. during that time. They asked Kay to lock her up for a year and half to show that tax scofflaws will be punished.

Bain apologized for breaking the law but said her responsibilities to Jackson and her mother, dying of Alzheimer's, made her neglect her own duties.

Associated Press
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