By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A Pittsburgh woman has agreed to plead guilty to allegations she defrauded advertisers and exhibitors out of thousands of dollars with a fake bridal show in Boston.

Federal prosecutors say Karen Tucker on Tuesday agreed to waive indictment on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in exchange for a lenient sentence of up to nearly five years in jail.

Tucker and an uncharged co-conspirator allegedly posed as representatives of a business known as The Boston 411, which promoted a nonexistent home and bridal show in March.

The two allegedly collected advance fees from exhibitors and used most of the money for personal expenses. Authorities say they conducted similar scams elsewhere.

Tucker's attorney says a court date has not been set.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A Pittsburgh woman has agreed to plead guilty to allegations she defrauded advertisers and exhibitors out of thousands of dollars with a fake bridal show in Boston.

Federal prosecutors say Karen Tucker on Tuesday agreed to waive indictment on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in exchange for a lenient sentence of up to nearly five years in jail.

Tucker and an uncharged co-conspirator allegedly posed as representatives of a business known as The Boston 411, which promoted a nonexistent home and bridal show in March.

The two allegedly collected advance fees from exhibitors and used most of the money for personal expenses. Authorities say they conducted similar scams elsewhere.

Tucker's attorney says a court date has not been set.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A Serb basketball player has pleaded guilty to beating an American student into a coma. The plea was part of a plea bargain under which Miladin Kovacevic is expected to serve about two years in prison in his homeland.

Under the agreement, Kovacevic, 23, could be sentenced to two years and three months for the beating of Bryan Steinhauer in May 2008 near Binghamton University in upstate New York. Three months of that has been served already in the U.S. and Serbia.

The Obama administration says it is disappointed with the plea deal. The case strained relations between Serbia and the United States.

The First Municipal Court in Belgrade said Monday it will mail its final ruling to Kovacevic. It did not say when.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

Two Iowa women pleaded guilty Thursday to federal felony charges that they embezzled nearly $6 million from West Des Moines insurer Aviva USA.

The charges come nearly a year after Phyllis Stevens, 59, was arrested at a Las Vegas hotel. An Aviva employee discovered more than $5.9 million in company funds had been funneled into an Indianapolis bank account held by the couple.

Federal prosecutors in Iowa said both Phyllis Stevens and Marla Stevens, 58, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to file false income tax returns. Phyllis Stevens also pleaded guilty to counts of wire fraud, computer fraud and filing a false income tax return.

Phyllis Stevens admitted stealing the money by making fraudulent entries into the computer system at Aviva. She also admitted to buying real estate and paying large credit card bills with the money, prosecutors said. Marla Stevens admitted she knew about and participated in the scheme.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

An Indiana teenager who pleaded guilty to murder has broken down while watching video of himself telling police how he strangled his 10-year-old brother.

Ohio Circuit Court Judge James D. Humphrey recessed court twice for a total of nearly an hour Thursday morning as 18-year-old Andrew Conley tried to control his emotions.

Defense attorney Gary Sorge said Conley wanted to be excused from the courtroom because he couldn't "bear to hear any more." Humphrey denied the request and said it was important that Conley be present to exercise his rights.

Conley pleaded guilty Monday as his trial was about to begin in the Nov. 28 murder of his brother, Conner Conley, at their home in the Ohio River town of Rising Sun. He could face 45 years to life in prison.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

An Indiana money manager who once led a high-flying lifestyle pleaded guilty to five securities fraud counts on Wednesday, nearly two years after he tried to fake his death in a Florida plane crash to escape the crush of financial and personal problems.

Marcus Schrenker, 39, admitted the charges in a plea agreement under which he agreed to a 10-year prison sentence and prosecutors dropped four other charges. He also agreed to pay more than $600,000 in restitution. Prosecutors say he bilked friends, family members and other investors of more than $1 million.

He will remain in jail until his Oct. 7 sentencing, when Hamilton Superior Court Judge Steven Nation is expected to rule whether Schrenker serves the sentence at the same time as a federal sentence or afterward.

Schrenker, shackled at his wrists and ankles and wearing an orange jail T-shirt emblazoned with "Inmate 453" on its back in large black letters, told Nation he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has taken medication for it since 1992.

His attorney, P. Chadwick Hill, said afterward that Schrenker didn't blame the disorder for his actions.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A former JetBlue flight attendant accused of cursing out an airplane passenger and then sliding down an emergency exit chute is due in a New York City courtroom.

Steven Slater is scheduled to appear today for a routine hearing on criminal-mischief charges.

Share Slater also was charged with reckless endangerment and trespassing after last month's meltdown aboard a JetBlue Airways Corp. flight from Pittsburgh that had just landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport. His lawyer has said the passenger's "lack of civility" prompted his behavior.

Defense attorney Daniel J. Horwitz says Slater is looking forward to his day in court.  Slater became water cooler talk for days after his Aug. 9 meltdown. Online groups canonized him as a hero or vilified him as a cranky brat.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

Lonnie Franklin Jr., the suspect in the "Grim Sleeper" serial killings, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in a Los Angeles, California, courtroom on 10 counts of murder.

Franklin is accused of killing 10 women in the south Los Angeles area between 1985 and 2007.

Nicknamed for taking long breaks between attacks, the "Grim Sleeper" is believed responsible for at least 10 deaths between 1985 and 2007 in south Los Angeles. The killer targeted black women, some working as prostitutes, using the same small caliber weapon.

Los Angeles police arrested Franklin on July 8 by comparing DNA found at some of the crime scenes with the DNA of the suspect's son, who was in a California lockup.

Five days after his arrest, Franklin was attacked in jail. Inmate Antonio Rodriguez and Franklin were in an attorney waiting room when the assault happened, said Steve Whitmore, a sheriff's department spokesman.

Rodriguez was not in handcuffs at the time and apparently recognized Franklin. Without being provoked, Rodriguez hit Franklin in the head twice, and he suffered minor injuries, Whitmore said.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A lawyer for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says the Justice Department has ended a probe of the Texas Republican and will not file any criminal charges.

The six-year criminal investigation focused on DeLay's ties to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was released from a minimum-security prison camp in June.

One of DeLay's lawyers, Richard Cullen, said Monday the Justice Department's Office of Public Integrity informed DeLay's legal team early last week that it was ending the investigation.

Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney declined to comment, which is normally the case when the department ends a criminal probe without filing charges.

Abramoff served about 3 1/2 years in prison for fraud, corruption and conspiracy. He spent three days in a halfway house in Baltimore before he was placed in home confinement. Abramoff currently is working in a kosher pizzeria in northwest Baltimore.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A former money manager convicted of trying to fake his own death in a Florida plane crash has agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud charges in Indiana.

Marcus Schrenker could face 10 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to five of 11 counts under a proposed plea agreement with Hamilton County prosecutors.

He could also be required to pay more than $600,000 in restitution. Schrenker is accused of bilking friends, family members and other investors of more than $1 million.

A hearing on the deal is set for Sept. 15 in Hamilton Superior Court in the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville. A judge still has to accept Schrenker's plea before the agreement can take effect.

The only remaining dispute is whether Schrenker should serve his Indiana sentence at the same time as a four-year federal sentence out of Florida, Jeff Wehmueller, administrative chief deputy prosecutor in Hamilton County, said Thursday.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.