Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that a review of most accounts held by financier Bernard Madoff's customers when he was arrested shows that about half of the customers had not lost money because they withdrew more money than they originally invested.

Prosecutors made the revelation as they told a judge in court papers that there was no need to order restitution because all of Madoff's assets will be distributed to investors through forfeiture requirements.

As part of their filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, they summarized the findings of a court-appointed trustee who is calculating how much investors lost so it can be decided how to divide up assets that are recovered.

The government said a search of financial records, including microfilm records dating back to 1979, show that investors suffered net losses exceeding $13 billion. In all, 15,870 claims have been made to the trustee by those seeking a share of any recovered money.

The court document said there were approximately 8,094 customer accounts held by Madoff's private investment business from at least 2000 through December 2008. At the time of his Dec. 11 arrest, there were 4,902 active customer accounts, the government said.

Most of the customers who had current accounts have made claims with the trustee, prosecutors wrote. Of those, nearly 50 percent had a net loss, meaning they contributed more funds to their accounts than they withdrew, while about half had no net loss because they withdrew more funds than they contributed, prosecutors said.

A federal U.S. court has ruled in favor of critics of Monsanto Co's genetically engineered sugar beets, saying the U.S. government failed to adequately evaluate environmental and economic risks associated with the crop.

The U.S. District Court for the northern district of California ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) violated federal law by failing to prepare an environmental impact statement before deregulating genetically altered sugar beets.

Monsanto developed the biotech beets to be resistant to Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide Roundup, and promotes the sugarbeets as "Roundup Ready."

The plaintiffs include the Center for Food Safety, Organic Seed Alliance, Sierra Club, and High Mowing Seeds. The groups filed the lawsuit in January 2008.

About 1.1 million U.S. acres were seeded this year to Roundup Ready sugar beets in the fourth year of commercialized production.

Critics say the Roundup Ready beets are dangerous for the environment because they promote the emergence of "superweeds" or weeds that cannot easily be killed because they also develop a tolerance to weedkiller. They also say that organic and convential beet farmers are damaged because the genetically altered sugar beets are wind-pollinated and inevitably cross-pollinate related crops grown nearby.

The court found that USDA gave only "cursory" consideration to some of these concerns, failing to adequately consider the risks. The court has ordered the USDA to conduct a rigorous assessment of the environmental and economic impacts of the crop on farmers and the environment, and will evaluate other remedies in an October meeting of the parties.

A Florida jury has found a Miami-area special needs teacher guilty of abuse after authorities say she put hot sauce in an autistic student's soda.

Sylvia Tagle was convicted Tuesday. Authorities say she gave the spiked soda to the student to teach him a lesson. Tagle says the boy grabbed the soda from her desk when she was with other students.

Jurors found Tagle not guilty of three other charges, including pulling a student's hair. Her attorney says she's a strict but dedicated teacher who maintains her innocence.

Tagle taught at the Bob Graham Educational Center in Miami Lakes. Her sentencing is set for Oct. 7. She faces a maximum of five years in jail.

Mel Martinez's career plans after leaving the Senate appear to be bringing him to Tampa.

The Orlando Republican is joining the offices of DLA Piper as a partner in its Washington and Tampa offices, according to Legal Times.

DLA Piper partner Ignacio Sanchez confirmed the news following a partnership vote. Martinez, who left the Senate earlier this month, starts at the firm on Oct. 1, Legal Times reported.

"When he announced he was going to retire and let the governor appoint someone to finish out the term, I immediately talked to him and said, you really ought to consider looking at our firm. I think you would really do well, and we would love to have you," Sanchez said.

The former senator will be banned from lobbying for two years, though Sanchez said he will be able to advise clients on a range of issues.

The Murfreesboro law firm of Kious & Rodgers, PLLC recently announced a change to the firm’s name to recognize the contributions of partners, Jay Barger, Chris Holder and J. D. Kious, to the North Maple Street practice. Kious & Rodgers, PLLC is now Kious, Rodgers, Barger, Holder & Kious, PLLC.

The firm’s founding partners, David W. Kious and John W. Rodgers, started the firm in 1997 with a vision of building the best law firm in Rutherford County. “We believed by delivering high quality legal services at a reasonable price, the firm would grow as its reputation grew, and in time we would need to add partners and associates in response to an increasing and diverse client base,” Rodgers said. “The change in our firm name is a reflection of our firm’s vision for growth and advancement.”

James P. “Jay” Barger joined the firm in 2002, was named a partner in 2006 and is the firm’s family law specialist. G. Christopher Holder joined the firm in 2004 and was named a partner a year ago. He specializes in criminal defense, construction and lien law, and collections. J. D. Kious joined the firm in 2005 and specializes in business law, estate planning and real estate.

“With their assistance, the firm John and I started 12 years ago has been able to fulfill its mission of being a full service law firm for Rutherford County, providing exceptional service through sound legal advice and professional, experienced representation,” David Kious noted. “And by adding Jay, Chris and J.D. to our firm name, we want to recognize their contribution to our firm and make known our comprehensive practice, spanning the full spectrum of today’s legal environment.”

Kious points out that the firm is not looking at restraining its growth anytime soon. “New developments and growth opportunities are on the horizon, and we are poised to take advantage of them.”

The name change is accompanied by a new web site, http://www.murfreesborolawyers.com.

Federal prosecutors say an Illinois man has pleaded guilty in an identity theft ring that ensnared Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as a victim.

Forty-nine-year-old Leonardo Darnell Zanders of Dolton, Ill., entered the guilty plea on Monday after several witnesses testified at his trial.

According to testimony and court documents, Zanders directed a nationwide fraud scheme to steal from people and financial institutions.

At trial on Monday, co-defendant Darrell Earl Price testified that Zanders gave him checks in the name of Ben and Anna Bernanke, and Price used those checks in the scheme.