Proving that life doesn't always imitate television, one of the perky stars of the 1950s hit the "Mickey Mouse Club" was arrested after a federal grand jury indictment accused her of lying under oath.
Darlene Gillespie, 56, was one of the original Mouseketeers, appearing on the TV show from 1955 to 1959. She was arrested Wednesday morning at her Oxnard home on charges including conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury, then was released after a late-afternoon bail hearing.She was accompanied by a court-appointed public defender, Morton Boren, who criticized the U.S. Attorney's Office for stranding her at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse with no car and no money.
"The government got her here, I want the government to bring her home," Boren said, after U.S. District Court Judge James McMahon ordered Gillespie to return Monday for arraignment. Her attorney said she would not have to pay bail.
The 26-count indictment accuses Gillespie and 60-year-old Jerry Fraschilla of lying under oath during depositions taken during an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission that started in 1993.