‘Welfare Queen’ Ordered Held

A federal judge Friday ordered a Pasadena woman and her son detained on charges they submitted phony tax returns seeking $305,000 in illegal refunds, a federal prosecutor said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge James McMahon found that Dorothy Mae Woods, 55, dubbed the “Welfare Queen” during a case in the 1980s, and her son Bernard Palmer, 37, of Duarte, posed a flight risk and an economic danger, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Eglash said.