January's sales increase followed a 0.4 percent decline in December and was contrary to Wall Street analysts' forecasts for a 0.2 percent decline. The surprise sales rise caused stock futures to jump on hopes it meant the United States had a better chance of skirting a recession.

Prices for U.S. debt securities fell while the dollar's value strengthened against other major currencies.

Excluding autos, January sales still rose 0.3 percent, reversing a 0.3 percent decline in December sales. Wall Street analysts were expecting a 0.2 percent gain in sales excluding autos.

"The data is clearly a surprise to the upside," said Omer Esiner, a market analyst with Ruesch International in Washington, D.C. "In the near term, it does ease some recession concerns."

Despite the higher headline number for sales, there were declines in many categories that implied consumer spending was being pinched. Furniture sales fell 0.5 percent in January, building material sales were down 1.7 percent and department store sales declined by 1.1 percent.

Many analysts think the slowing U.S. economy faces increasing risks of tumbling into recession and are closely watching for signs that consumers, who fuel 70 percent of national economic activity, will keep scaling back spending.

Several other money-strapped states have mulled going after the taxes.

Spitzer's proposed budget would require Internet giants like Amazon to collect tax on an estimated $47 million in sales to New Yorkers, who are currently required by an honor system to report how much they spend online on their tax returns.

Amazon spokesman Paul Misener says the governor's plan would be a radical departure from anything currently being done in the U.S.

He says other states — including California, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas — have considered similar plans, but abandoned the idea.

Walter rejected Lerach's request to spend part of his sentence in home detention and rebuked Lerach for his criminal conduct, saying he had “corrupted the law firm and corrupted it in the most evil way.”

Walter said he would have imposed a stiffer sentence on his own and considered rejecting the plea arrangement because of the gravity of Lerach's offense.

The secret kickbacks paid by Lerach's former firm, Milberg Weiss, made it easier for the firm to be named lead counsel and to command a bigger share of settlement fees in its lawsuits against major corporations.

Lerach pleaded guilty last year to a single count of conspiracy and admitted to participating in the scheme, which sought clients with large stock portfolios and asked them to serve as ready plaintiffs when negative information surfaced about a company. In return, Milberg Weiss paid these clients a percentage of the firm's legal fees.

Under law, the lead plaintiff in a class-action shareholder suit must serve as a representative of the class and cannot have a special interest or hidden inducement beyond other shareholders in the case.
“In the court's view, Mr. Lerach's conduct is one of the most serious crimes to come before this court,” Walter said. “The scope and duration of this conspiracy was breathtaking.”

Lerach, 61, who wore a dark suit, sat quietly with his fingers interlaced on the table in front of him. As the judge delivered his sentence, Lerach kept his eyes fixed on the table, his face flushed with color.

Earlier in the hearing, Lerach addressed the judge and a courtroom packed with his supporters, apologizing for “embarrassing” his family and law firm for conduct that was “completely unacceptable in a lawyer.”

“I pleaded guilty in this case because I was guilty,” Lerach said, his voice quavering. “I knew what I was doing was wrong, I just did not have the strength of will or the strength of character to not join in on what was going on in our bar.”

Lerach is likely to be disbarred as a result of the conviction.

After joining the Milberg Weiss law firm and moving to San Diego in 1976, Lerach became a nationwide pioneer in developing new legal strategies for shareholder litigation. His smashmouth tactics made him a pariah in corporate boardrooms, but a force to be reckoned with nonetheless.

He may be known most recently as the lawyer who helped recover $7.2 billion for investors in Enron Corp.

Yet Lerach also devised the strategy used to recover $240 million for investors who were bilked in the 1989 collapse of the Lincoln Savings & Loan in Irvine.

He became a key strategist in similar battles waged over public bond meltdowns throughout California and Washington state, and in the sprawling case against junk bond king Michael Milken and the defunct investment firm Drexel, Burnham and Lambert.

Some 160 people wrote letters of support for Lerach, including U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

“Some of the things he did were brilliant and really advanced the cause of shareholders,” said Sean Coffey, a lawyer with New York-based Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman, who often battled Lerach for the lead position in lawsuits. “On the other hand, he's a confessed criminal who really bruised, rightly or wrongly, the rest of the bar.”

Lerach's attorney, John Keker, argued during yesterday's hearing that his client had stopped participating in the conspiracy in 1999. Keker said Lerach was “shocked” to learn that colleagues in New York had secretly paid a client as late as 2003 – at least two years after the government began investigating the firm.

The judge rejoined that Lerach had benefited for years after he stopped actively recruiting clients to the conspiracy by collecting millions of dollars in fees from tainted cases.

Walter also berated prosecutors for agreeing to a sentencing range that he felt was not severe enough, saying he had considered rejecting Lerach's plea deal and forcing the case to go to trial.

“The conduct to me just goes to the core of the judicial system,” Walter said. “This whole conspiracy corrupted the law firm and corrupted it in the most evil way. He has to be punished for what he did. It comes down to retribution.”

Walter noted that Lerach had not sought to lighten his sentence by agreeing to cooperate in the government's ongoing investigation of Milberg Weiss and co-founder Melvyn Weiss.

Amid mounting pressure from the federal investigation, Lerach led a breakaway from Milberg Weiss and founded the San Diego law firm now known as Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins. He resigned from that firm in August.

In addition to the prison term, Lerach agreed to forfeit $7.75 million in unlawful gains, pay a $250,000 fine and serve two years of probation. He is set to report to federal prison in California on April 21.

Lerach, who somberly shook hands with supporters outside the courtroom, had no comment on the sentence.

New York-based Milberg Weiss and Melvyn Weiss have been indicted as part of the same conspiracy, and have pleaded not guilty. Trial is set for August. Two former Milberg attorneys and three clients have pleaded guilty in the case.

Democrat Barack Obama looked to continue his winning streak in three mid-Atlantic presidential primaries and brushed aside questions Tuesday about future contests to which rival Hillary Rodham Clinton has turned her attention. Republican John McCain sought to rebound from two weekend losses to Mike Huckabee and reinforce his position as the inevitable GOP nominee.

"It's very early," Obama said when asked about his prospects in the March 4 Texas primary during an appearance near a polling place here. "We haven't even gotten through this yet, come on, man," he added, referring to Tuesday's Democratic presidential primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Clinton planned to spend election night at a rally in El Paso, Texas.

Obama surprised customers at a Dunkin' Donuts shop across from a school with a polling place. Autographs-seekers jostled with reporters, cameras and Secret Service agents as Obama worked his way through the crowd with Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty to deliver donuts and coffee to his poll workers.

Coming off weekend victories in five contests, Obama was favored to win the mid-Atlantic primaries which draw a heavy blend of black and better educated voters, blocs that have aided his wins in earlier matchups against Clinton. Likewise, McCain was favored on the GOP side.

Democrats picked 168 delegates and Republicans 116 on Tuesday.

"We need something new," Obama told a huge rally at the University of Maryland on Monday, dismissing the former first lady's suggestions that he is not tough enough for the rigors of the presidency.

The Illinois senator was traveling late Tuesday to Wisconsin, which votes next week, along with Hawaii, where Obama grew up.

With the Clinton campaign all but conceding losses Tuesday, as well as in other primaries during the month, the New York senator prepared to fly to Texas, which holds its primary on March 4. She is banking on strong showings there and in Ohio, which votes the same day, to blunt Obama's momentum.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I would be the best candidate," Clinton told reporters Monday as she campaigned near Baltimore. "So I'm going forward — every day, we get to make our case to the American people."

A jury in October acquitted Richard Convertino of accusations that he presented false evidence and concealed evidence when he prosecuted North African immigrants in 2003. The government dismissed an obstruction of justice charge a month later.

Convertino asked a Detroit judge last month to order the government to pay his defense costs.

Convertino told The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press for stories Tuesday that the government continues to try to discredit him, despite his acquittal. He said many of the allegations are false or so old that they are difficult to confirm or deny.

The Justice Department's accusations include that Convertino falsely claimed a high school class presidency as well as college and law school honors. The allegedly padded resumes were used to get positions within the Justice Department and were submitted to the White House in 2001 when he was seeking a judgeship, according to the filing.

"I will fight them until hell freezes over and then on the ice," said Convertino, who is planning a malicious prosecution lawsuit. "This is our government that is conducting themselves in this manner, and it's disgusting that they're able to do that."

The Justice Department argued the allegations are relevant in deciding whether the government should pay Convertino's defense costs because it's important to know the information prosecutors acted on.

A federal judge ruled Monday the matter belongs in Monongalia County Circuit Court. That's where WVU filed the case after Rodriguez resigned to take the head coaching job at Michigan.

WVU had argued because it's an arm of state government, it can only be sued in state court.

U.S. District Court Judge John Bailey agrees. He says the university is not an independent body.

The ruling also says it's clear the outcome of the case will have an impact on state funds because any money paid to or held by the university is considered the state's money.