State police say a secretary has been charged in connection with the theft of more than $700,000 from the Hudson Valley law firm where she worked.

Troopers say 43-year-old Mary Merten of New Paltz was charged Wednesday with grand larceny, forgery, falsifying business records and possession of a forged instrument.

The arrest follows a five-month investigation into an embezzlement scheme at a local attorneys office where Merten worked as a legal secretary and bookkeeper.

Investigators say more than $700,000 was stolen from corporate and personal accounts associated with the firm. The law firm's name wasn't released.

Merten was being held Thursday in Ulster County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. It couldn't be immediately determined if she had a lawyer.

Thelen LLP, a U.S. law firm that once had more than 600 lawyers, said it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation after Citigroup Inc (C.N), a large creditor, cut off needed funding.

The 85-year-old firm said Citigroup "is no longer willing to advance funds for the cost of collection and (to) wind down operations," or to fund the costs of a Chapter 11 proceeding, according to a filing on Thursday with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan."

Thelen also said its estimated assets "will be insufficient to result in any meaningful payment" to unsecured creditors, in light of Citigroup's $7.2 million secured loan.

A Citigroup spokeswoman declined to comment.

According to its bankruptcy petition, also filed on Thursday, Thelen has between $10 million and $50 million of assets, and between $50 million and $100 million of liabilities.

Thelen shut down in late 2008 after the recession hurt revenue, many partners departed, and efforts to merge with another firm fell apart.

The San Francisco-based firm had reached its maximum size following a 2006 merger with New York's Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP. Thelen said its largest remaining creditors are in New York.

A debtor can liquidate under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. A Chapter 11 liquidation can make more economic sense for a debtor and give creditors more of a say in how proceeds are distributed.

A former drug enforcement official employed by accused swindler Allen Stanford has pleaded not guilty to charges that he illegally ordered shredding of documents in the fraud case.

Thomas Raffanello entered the plea Friday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. The 61-year-old Raffanello rose to became head of global security at Stanford Financial Group after leaving five years ago as chief of Miami's U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office.

Prosecutors say Raffanello illegally supervised destruction of Stanford records despite a court order that they be preserved. The three charges against Raffanello carry a combined maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

Raffanello's attorney says his client is innocent and that the destroyed documents were only duplicates.

The state Court of Appeals on Thursday struck down an Indiana law requiring government-issued photo identification for voters, overturning on state constitutional grounds a strict law previously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Considered one of the nation's toughest voter identification laws, it requires that a state or federal photo ID card be presented at the ballot box. Critics have said it disenfranchises some poor, older and minority voters. Supporters contend it is needed to prevent voter fraud at the polls, which critics say is rare.

Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels called Thursday's 3-0 ruling "an act of judicial arrogance."

"It would be one thing if this thing had not already been litigated from the bottom up through the federal system, and multiple court rulings — including the Supreme Court of the United States — hadn't already spoken," Daniels said.

The Indiana Democratic Party previously challenged the law in federal court, saying it violated the U.S. Constitution. But the nation's highest court upheld 6-3 in April 2008.

The League of Women Voters then challenged the law in state courts, arguing it violated the Indiana Constitution by imposing a requirement on some, but not all, voters.

A Marion County judge dismissed the suit in December, but the League appealed, and this time a panel of judges ruled in its favor. In a 29-page ruling, Judge Patricia A. Riley wrote that the trial court must declare the law void because it regulates voters in a way that is not "uniform and impartial."

The judges held that it was irrational to require those who vote in person to verify their identities when those who vote by mail are not required to do so even though absentee voting is more susceptible to fraud. The panel also said the law arbitrarily gives preferential treatment to people who vote in nursing homes where they live because they aren't required to show a photo ID even though other elderly people who vote elsewhere must.

While the nursing home discrepancy could be remedied easily by requiring those residents to present ID, the treatment favoring absentee voters might require legislation to fix, the judges said.

Sands Anderson Marks & Miller, a regional law firm based in Richmond, plans to spin off its workers’ compensation practice group as a separate company.

A name has not been chosen.

“We are looking for more flexibility to follow the market and keep our clients at the cutting edge of the best service we can give,” said Cecil Creasey, chairman of the workers’ comp group and one of four partners that will head up the new firm.
Creasey did not get into financial terms but said that they reached a very “equitable arrangement” with Sands Anderson. He said he expects the law firm to be independent of Sands Anderson by the end of the year.

The firm will employ 25 to 30 people, including attorneys, paralegals and staff, most of whom will come from the existing practice. It will have offices in Richmond and Blacksburg. Creasey said they are searching for office space.

The workers’ comp unit has 10 attorneys, about 13 percent of Sands Anderson’s roster of 75. Creasey said the unit handles hundreds of cases a year.

Companies often spin off into separate entities, but it is fairly unusual for law firms to do so. Typically lawyers leave a firm and start from scratch.

Sand Anderson was formed about 150 years ago in Richmond and has five offices in Virginia and North Carolina. According to Virginia Lawyers Weekly, the firm is the state’s seventh largest.

A man has pleaded guilty to breaking into the car of an off-duty New York City police officer who was then killed in a friendly fire shooting.

Miguel Goitia pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal mischief. He will serve 1 1/2 to 3 years in prison.

Officer Omar Edwards was killed May 28 by Officer Andrew Dunton, who spotted the 25-year-old officer chasing the thief with his gun drawn.

Dunton apparently mistook the off-duty officer for an armed suspect and shot him.

The shooting raised questions about racial profiling. Edwards was black and Dunton is white.

Last month, a grand jury voted not to indict Dunton in the shooting.