Trinity Walker buys OS billboards thanking husband for repaying stolen taxpayer money
After Scott Walker was chastised in federal court for spending his elderly parents’ money on an “extravagant” lifestyle, his wife has paid for three billboards that thank her husband for repaying taxpayer money he stole.
Scott Walker’s father, 74-year-old Bill Walker, is facing 30 days in jail for failing to pay his own restitution for fraud.
Both Bill and Scott Walker served prison sentences for stealing federal funds that Bill Walker controlled while he was executive director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. A nonprofit organization received the money from DMR to buy a lot Scott Walker owned after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the house.
Scott Walker, once a candidate for Ocean Springs mayor, was convicted in a separate case of defrauding the city of D’Iberville. He owed a total of $390,000 in restitution.
Scott and Trinity Walker recently sold their two-story home in an exclusive Ocean Springs subdivision to finish paying off his restitution.
The billboards are all on a heavily trafficked area of U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs.
“Over $325,000 in restitution paid in FULL in only 3 years!” the billboard headline says beside a smiling head-and-shoulders shot of Scott Walker, who was chastised two days earlier in federal court by U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett. The billboard featured three hashtags, included one residents found of particular note: #Walker2021.
At the bottom the billboard says, “Paid for by Trinity Walker.” Trinity Walker works at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport and also owns a real estate management firm with her husband.
Starrett removed Scott Walker from managing his parents’ finances after finding that he was using money from their accounts for his own benefit. Starrett said the state should investigate Walker for possible exploitation of vulnerable adults, namely his parents.
Scott Walker was with his parents in court for the hearing, where Starrett said he would return Bill Walker to jail if he failed to start paying restitution. A conservatorship is being established so an attorney can manage Bill Walker’s money and get the payments back on track.
Bill Walker still owes $319,624 in restitution and is supposed to pay a $125,000 fine after that. If he doesn’t start paying in December, Starrett said he will go to jail for 30 days. He also must serve 33 more months under supervised release. The Walkers were convicted of their crimes in 2014.
