A second boy has admitted to throwing a shopping cart, hitting a woman who has been in a medically induced coma since the incident. The boy had been at an East Harlem shopping center when he and a friend lifted the cart over the railing; in Family Court, he said, “Me and [the other boy] threw a shopping cart off the fourth floor of the mall." more ›

The 33-year-old Army veteran accused of fatally shooting four people at a Long Island pharmacy in an attempt to steal thousands of prescription drugs has pleaded guilty this morning. David Laffer pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder in the killings (one of the counts is for multiple murders) and Newsday reports, "Laffer's attorney said his client wanted to bring closure to the families of the victims. Laffer also pleaded guilty to four counts of criminal use of a weapon." more ›

The drunken construction worker who admitted to brutally beating a nurse at a Hell's Kitchen bar last year was sentenced to 16 years in prison yesterday. Mbarek Lafrem, a 32-year-old Moroccan man, had pleaded guilty to charges of assault and attempted sex abuse in July, with his lawyer saying Lafrem thought it was the "right thing" to do. But at the sentencing yesterday, he tried to withdraw his plea deal at the last minute, which was rejected by the judge. “It does appear to be a boilerplate motion filed by many defendants who are often having buyer’s remorse, so to speak, after having time to contemplate their plea. It appears to be a last-ditch effort,” said Shanda Strain, an assistant district attorney. more ›

The Egyptian banking executive who was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a maid at the Pierre Hotel decided to plead guilty. Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar entered the plea yesterday and was sentenced to five days community service. His lawyer said he completed the community service already (soup kitchen work) and the plea was "the most expeditious way" for him to return to his ailing wife. more ›

The Essex House's housekeeping manager has pleaded guilty to killing a female guest in 2009. Derrick Praileau took a deal for 23 years to life for strangling Sara Bejjani after trying to rape her in condo. The victim's brother, Joe Bejjani, said, "Nothing is going to help... We lost... I don't really care about the sentence—my sister's life is gone," but added, "I'm glad he confessed—finally." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Way back in 2007, rapper Ja Rule was stopped on West End Avenue for speeding following a concert at Beacon Theater, unfortunately for him, cops also found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic in the car (with Ja Rule's DNA on it). Now the NY Post reports that he was in court earlier today pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon; the Manhattan judge told him, “Because of your guilty plea here today, you’ll have a record of having committed a violent felony. This is a very serious matter." more ›

A Stamford, CT father officially earned the worst class trip chaperone ever award, after pleading guilty to molesting young girls while chaperoning his son's class trip to NYC in June. According to prosecutors, Tomas Manzano, 35, was horribly inappropriate towards the fifth grade girls, "He caressed their faces.. he tickled some of the children close to their privates." more ›

A 13-year Queens North narcotics detective pleaded guilty yesterday to forcing a woman under arrest to perform oral sex on him in a station house bathroom, after threatening to use his authority to take away her kids. Detective Oscar Sandino also admitted to forcing another female in police custody to remove her clothes while he masturbated. "I then proceeded to rub my genital area in her presence, and forced her to lift her shirt and expose her upper body," Sandino told a judge yesterday, according to the Post. more ›

Former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who resigned in 2007 because he was using state workers to chauffeur his sick wife around, is expected to plead guilty to a pay-to-play scheme involving the state pension fund. The NY Times reports, "Mr. Hevesi has been a subject of a lengthy investigation focusing on allegations that his friends, family and associates sold access to the state’s $125 billion pension fund, one of the world’s largest, to reward allies, pay back political favors and reap millions of dollars for themselves." more ›

Former NY State Comptroller Alan Hevesi resigned in 2007 because it was discovered he used state vehicles to chauffeur his sick wife around. Now he's expected to plead guilty to charges that his office gave state pension business to investment firms that would give his team, family and friends kickbacks and fees. Albany—forever stinky! more ›

Last October, Carmen Huertas was driving a car packed with her daughter and her daughter's friends up the West Side Highway when she lost control and flipped the car over Besides many of the children being injured, 11-year-old Leandra Rosado died and it was discovered that Huertas' blood alcohol level was one-and-a-half times the legal limit. Now Huertas is expected to plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter today. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant (and naturalized U.S. citizen) accused of training with the Pakistan Taliban and attempting to bomb Times Square pleaded guilty to charges, saying, "It's a war... I'm going to plead guilty a hundred times over because until the hour the U.S. pulls its forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and stops the drone strikes ... we will be attacking the U.S. And I plead guilty to that." more ›

Last August, 15-year-old Joseph Marino died after being struck by a drunk driver in Hampton Bays. Now the driver, Caroline Goss, who was found with an open container of alcohol in the car as well as her 6-year-old son, is reportedly close to making a deal with prosecutors to serve a six month sentence. A lawyer for Marino's family called the deal a "joke." more ›

Yesterday, Zarein Ahmedzay pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and other charges in connection with a foiled September 2009 plan to bomb NYC subways. The 25-year-old cabdriver from Queens told the judge that he, Najibullah Zazi and Adis Medunjanin went to an Al Qaeda camp in Pakistan, ready to join the Taliban. But Al Qaeda instead told them that they would be, Ahmedzay said, "more useful if we returned to New York City ... to conduct operations." He also said, "I personally believed that conducting an operation in the United States would be the best way to end the wars." more ›

A friend of Najibullah Zazi suspected of plotting to bomb the NYC subways will plead guilty today, according to law enforcement sources. The AP reports, "Zarein Ahmedzay was expected to appear Friday afternoon in federal court in Brooklyn... They said Ahmedzay planned to plead guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, providing material support to a terrorist organization and other counts." Zazi, Ahmedzay, and another friend from their Queens high school allegedly received Al Qaeda training in Pakistan and wanted to bomb the 1, 2, 3, and 6 trains last September, a plan foiled by NYPD and federal monitoring of Zazi. Zazi pleaded guilty in February. more ›

Former gallery owner Lawrence Salander, who faced 100 counts including grand larceny for his art world scams, is pleading guilty to his $120 million fraud. He accepted the deal "in exchange for a promise of no more than 6 to 18 years behind bars." more ›

The former CBS News producer who was accused of trying to shake down talk show host David Letterman for $2 million is set to plead guilty, according to the Daily News and Post, which reports, "Robert Halderman, a '48 Hours' producer, is expected to be sentenced to six months in jail, as well as ordered to do 1000 hours of community service and serve four-and-a-half years probation, as part of the agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to second-degree larceny in Manhattan Supreme Court today." more ›

David Friehling, who was in charge of auditing Bernard Madoff's billion dollar "business"/Ponzi scheme from a little accounting office in a Rockland County strip mall, pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges for not verifying Bernard Madoff's trades and assets. The 49-year-old said, "At no time was I ever aware Bernard Madoff was engaged in a Ponzi scheme," and said his own family's savings (and kids' college funds)—which is also an SEC violation— were put into Madoff's scheme, while also admitting he took Madoff's records "at face value." more ›

A woman, accused of killing her former girlfriend's husband in November 2007, has pleaded guilty by reason of insanity. The Daily News reports that Anastasiya Andreyeva explained, "The candle was burning, and I saw the face with horns and I started shaking and sweating. And then I went to approach the candle and run with it outside because the voice in my head said, 'Bring people the light.'" more ›

From running a law firm that employed two hundred lawyers to facing life behind bars: Marc Dreier appeared in federal court and pleaded guilty to "money laundering, conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud." His admission read in part, "I engineered a scheme to issue and sell fictitious promissory notes purportedly issued by companies in the United States and Canada," and he noted that the scheme took place between 2004 and 2008. more ›

Marc Dreier, the once high-flying lawyer whose firm had over 200 lawyers, will plead guilty a $700 million scam involving fake promissory notes. According to his lawyer, Dreier—who does not have a deal—will "enter a guilty plea to...conspiracy, securities fraud, money laundering and five counts of wire fraud," the Wall Street Journal reports. Dreier was arrested in December, after returning from Canada where he was arrested for impersonating another lawyer in an attempt to get business from a Canadian pension fund, and has been under house arrest. Dreier faces over seven counts, the New York Law Journal says, "Each count carries a potential sentence of 20 years in prison except for the conspiracy count, which carries a five-year term." more ›

A lawyer for Vito Fossella explained the former Congressman's decision to plead guilty to a May 2008 DUI, "He wanted to accept responsibility for what had occurred and he wanted to end this. He wants this behind him. He realizes it was wrong to be drinking and driving that night. He's going to get on with his life." more ›

Earlier today, Bernard Madoff's lawyer asked an appeals court to release the admitted Ponzi schemer, while federal prosecutors argued that he should stay behind bars. One judge pointed out that Madoff could have fled with "$100 million and settled in some tropical republic, yet he didn't do that," instead of admitting his fraud, adding, "He was a respected citizen who could travel as he liked. Why isn't that really a powerful argument against your position?" To which Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt said, "It's an argument, not a powerful one"; Litt also said that house arrest was unacceptable since guards could be bribed or fall asleep. The judges didn't immediately issue a ruling; Madoff did not appear in court. more ›

A NJ woman has pleaded guilty to the 2006 beating of a man in the West Village. Renata Hill and three friends beat up Dwayne Buckle outside the IFC Center on 6th Avenue because Buckle made sexual remarks at one of them (he said he would "f--- [her] straight") and then made rude remarks (calling one "an elephant" at the others). Buckle was stabbed during the attack—one of the women, who were arrested, had explained, " I admit I did cut him one time for my own safety." An appeals court threw out three of the women's convictions (the fourth's case was dismissed) and had ordered another trial for Hill; instead of another trial, Hill will serve a 3 1/2 year sentence. more ›

Bernard Madoff, extreme Ponzi scheme mastermind, arrived at the U.S. District Court this morning around 7 a.m. (video from MyFoxNY —Madoff was transported in a below). He is expected to plead guilty to 11 criminal charges (PDF) related to a $64.8 billion investment fraud involving thousands in the U.S. and overseas. The hearing will not start until 11 a.m. more ›

With Ponzi scheme "investor" Bernard Madoff reportedly set to plead guilty to cheating his client out of billions, a former federal prosecutor tells the Post, "This guy is going to die in jail...He's got nothing to negotiate with. There is absolutely no deal that can be cut unless he can give up Hillary Clinton or someone like that." (The Post envisions that Bernie's cellmate will be named Bubba.) Newsday reports that "Manhattan federal judge Denny Chin said he is allowing the government to notify by Internet Web site postings the thousands of Madoff investors burned in the scandal that they have the right to appear in court on March 12." Madoff investors who wish to speak must email the U.S. Attorney's office (at usanys.madoff@usdoj.gov ) by Wednesday 10 a.m. We hope if victims are allowed to speak that Elie Wiesel is one of them. Last week the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Wiesel, whose charity lost eveything, said, "It's the inhumanity in this man who simply believed he can go around depriving people of their livelihoods. What he has done to certain people, it breaks my heart." more ›

Fraudulent investor Bernard Madoff appears to be ready to enter a guilty plea, as he has just waived his indictment (meaning he's waiving the right to have a grand jury to review the charges). The Law Blog reports, "The waiver could presage a plea deal for Madoff. Often, prior to a plea, a defendant will waive his or her right to a grand-jury indictment. In such a case, the prosecutors’ 'charging document' — the document which lays out the case against the defendant — is called an 'information.'" (This morning, the U.S. Attorney's Office said it would file an "information".) more ›

Yesterday, Robert Chambers was sentenced to 19 years in prison, after accepting a deal to plead guilty to selling cocaine and assaulting a police officer last October. This is four years longer than he was sentenced to for the 1986 killing of Jennifer Levin in Central Park, which was later dubbed the Preppie Murder. Police had also arrested Chambers's girlfriend Shawn Kovell, who was released shortly after pleading guilty. Prosecutors were unhappy the loyal Kovell (she waited for him to be released from previous prison stints) showed up at Chambers's sentencing; ADA Dan Rather Jr. said, "She's apparently wandering around the city without an escort." more ›

A woman who worked part-time for the high class escort service used by former Governor Spitzer has accepted a plea agreement. Tanya Hollander, who is a holistic health counselor, will plead to lesser charges than the Emperors Club's head, Mark Brener, his girlfriend Cecil Suwal who ran the operation, and Tameka Lewis who booked appointments. Brener, Suwal and Lewis have all pleaded guilty to prostitution conspiracy and money laundering. Hollander's lawyer hopes his client can avoid jail time, saying she "is very eager to get back to work, helping people help themselves." more ›

The 23-year-old woman who helped run the prostitution ring that counted former governor Eliot Spitzer as a customer is pleading guilty to money laundering charges. more ›