Brooke Astor's 89-Year-Old Son Set To Begin His Prison Sentence

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Friday was the last day of freedom for the 89-year-old son of late philanthropist Brooke Astor.

Anthony Marshall was ordered by a judge to begin serving a long-awaited prison term, CBS 2's John Slattery reported.

He was a picture of infirmity as he showed up to have his prison time imposed.

For Marshall, it was the end of the line. The man convicted of looting his mother's estate, having exhausted a series of appeals, was sentenced to a term of one to three years. It was three and half years ago that Marshall was convicted of forging his mother's signature in a multi-million dollar swindle of Astor, who died in 2007 at the age of 105. Marshall's appeals claim that he has a deteriorating medical condition. However, on Friday sentencing was imposed by Judge Kirke Bartley, who read a letter from Marshall's estranged son, Alex, calling his father a World War II hero.

"I would strongly urge you to receive your son back into your life before it's too late," Bartley said.

Marshall's eyes seemed to well up as the judge read the letter and then, with Marshall declining to speak, the judge imposed the sentence and Astor's elderly son was wheeled away. His wife is Charlene Marshall.

"My heart has been ripped out of my body," she said.

So it's off to prison for one to three years, and for a prosperous man of 89 it must seem like an eternity.

Marshall's former attorney, 73-year-old Francis Morrisey, was also convicted in the same case. He began serving his one-to-three-year sentence on Thursday.

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