Full Throttle

Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service say they have arrested Fatemeh Angela Harkness after she got off a plane from the United Arab Emirates in New York City on Sunday.

Marshals say Harkness fled just prior to an April 2004 sentencing in which she reportedly plead guilty to involvement in bank fraud totaling $1.3 million. Harkness made a name for herself by owning a NASCAR team with her co-defendant in the case, Gary Jones.

Jones was sentenced to just under four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to fraud, theft and embezzlement charges.

Police say Harkness, a former stripper, conspired with Jones, a Wells Fargo vice president to embezzle money that helped fund their NASCAR race team Angela’s Motorsports.

Harkness was arrested by authorities with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May 2005 and had traveled there using an Iranian passport her country of birth. Due to the UAE and the U.S. having no extradition treaty, she had not been accessible to U.S. Marshalls until landing at JFK International Airport on Sunday.

Timothy Hughes, a spokesman for the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, said Harkness finally decided to come back voluntarily.

“She called U.S. Marshals and said, ‘I’m tired of this, I’m sick of being over here. If you can get me back there, I’ll serve my time,’ “ Hughes said.

Hector Gomez, a spokesman for the Lone Star Task Force, said Harkness called him 10 days ago. “Unless she returned to her native Iran, she would’ve been landlocked.”

He said Harkness flew back with her 6-year-old daughter, who will be cared for by relatives.

Federal Marshals say she will face a judge in New York before being returned to Central Texas for trial.

Angela Motorsports arrived on the NASCAR scene with great fanfare in late 2002.

Car and Driver magazine called the combo of Harkness and Jones a “Diversity Dream Team”