A Massachusetts state senator caught on video stuffing what prosecutors said was bribe money into her sweater and bra has pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

Dianne Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat, entered the pleas to eight counts of attempted extortion at a hearing in U.S. District Court on Thursday. She will remain free on bail until her sentencing on Sept. 20.

Federal prosecutors are recommending a sentence of no more than four years in prison. Defense attorneys will be allowed to argue for less.

Wilkerson was arrested in October 2008 and accused of taking $23,500 in bribes to help get a liquor license for a nightclub and helping an undercover agent posing as a businessman who wanted to develop state property.

The last of seven New York teenagers implicated in the hate crime killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant pleaded guilty on Wednesday.

Anthony Hartford's plea to gang assault and other charges closes the prosecution phase of a case that attracted international headlines and prompted an ongoing U.S. Justice Department probe of police responses to bias crimes. The judge indicated Hartford would likely face 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 20.

The 18-year-old admitted being with a group that targeted Hispanics for violence in November 2008. Their attacks culminated in the killing of immigrant Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue.

"He's never denied being involved," said defense attorney Laurence Silverman. "He's never denied that it was wrong to be involved."

A week ago, 19-year-old Jeffrey Conroy was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his conviction on manslaughter as a hate crime. Five others are awaiting sentencing.

A jury sentenced a 28-year-old Nevada man to death for raping and killing a college coed after sexually assaulting two others in Reno more than two years ago.

The same Washoe County District Court jury that convicted James Biela (BEEL'-uh) last week deliberated about nine hours before reaching a unanimous verdict Wednesday.

The former pipe fitter from Sparks will be sent to death row to await execution by lethal injection.

Biela's public defenders asked the jury to spare Biela's life because he had no previous criminal record and had been abused growing up in poverty in the Chicago area.

Nineteen-year-old Brianna Denison was raped and strangled to death during a string of attacks that shook the Reno community in early 2008.

• Drunk Driving (DUII, DUI, DWI) - including underage drinking and driving, refusing a breathalyzer test, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and other drug or alcohol related driving offenses
• Criminal Driving Offenses - including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, hit & run, attempting to elude police, reckless driving and licensure issues
• Drug Crimes - including possession
  
  , delivery, and manufacturing of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, designer drugs and prescription drugs
• Property Crimes - including theft, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, computer crimes and burglary
• Violent Crimes - including menacing, stalking and assault
• Stalking - including criminal offenses and civil actions

A Chicago lawyer was found guilty Wednesday of conspiracy to commit tax fraud in connection with the sale of tax shelters.

A New York jury also convicted John Ohle III, 42, of two counts of tax evasion for failing to report about $6.5 million in income in 2001 and 2002, the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan said Thursday. A fellow lawyer, William Bradley of Hammond, La., also was convicted in the conspiracy scheme.

The guilty verdicts are a big victory for New York federal prosecutors who have investigated a web of Chicago lawyers, bankers and accountants who helped hundreds of wealthy clients skirt taxes through the sale of questionable tax shelters starting in the 1990s. Last year, seven people, including the former chief executive of BDO Seidman, a Chicago-based accounting firm, were charged with fraud and conspiracy related to the sale of allegedly fraudulent tax shelters.

One of the shelters was known as "Hedge Option Monetization of Economic Remainder" or "HOMER." The U.S. attorney's office said Ohle sold HOMER to clients of Bank One, where he was employed from November 1999 to early 2002. Ohle continued selling the shelter after leaving the bank and forming his own company, Chicago-based Dumaine Group LLC.

Prosecutors had alleged that Ohle and Bradley conspired with others to create fraudulent invoices to obtain referral fees on transactions involving HOMER. Ohle illegally collected more than $800,000, prosecutors said.

Five partners have left Neal Gerber & Eisenberg to start their own law firm counseling trade associations, charitable groups and other non-profits.

The group is led by Jed Mandel, who chaired Neal Gerber's practice group focused on associations and non-profit organizations. In a statement, Mandel suggested that the group left partly due to client concerns about rates.
"As a boutique firm with a focused concentration, we can be more nimble in anticipating and responding to client needs," Mandel said in a statement. "We can also be even more efficient, from a cost standpoint, in delivering the specific services our clients require."

The lawyers joining him at Chicago Law Partners are Susan Carlson, Timothy French, Kimberly Pendo and Lisa Stegink. Their office is at 333 W. Wacker Drive.