In a soft voice, she pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy, access device fraud, bank fraud and money laundering and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Robreno has scheduled sentencing for Oct. 17.

Kirsch has been in custody for more than a week since deciding to skip house arrest in favor of jail in anticipation of a prison sentence.

Her attorney, Ronald Greenblatt, has said that Kirsch faces a mandatory sentence of at least two years in prison. Kirsch has captivated an international audience since photos of her - looking well-endowed and flirtatious and sometimes in a bikini - circulated on the Internet after her arrest.

Kirsch and her one-time boyfriend, Edward K. Anderton, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, are accused of stealing identification of friends, co-workers and neighbors to get fake ID used to finance a lavish lifestyle. They are accused of stealing more than $116,000 from their victims. Anderton pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected condemned inmate Christopher Scott Emmett's argument that Virginia's procedure was unconstitutional.

Emmett's lawyers claimed the procedure risks substantial harm because it does not allow for a second dose of anesthesia to make sure an inmate is unconscious before paralyzing and heart-stopping drugs are injected.

The appeals court said there is no evidence that the first dose of anesthesia has ever failed to render an inmate unconscious.

The ruling came on the day another Virginia inmate — Kent Jermaine Jackson — was executed by lethal injection for killing his 79-year-old neighbor. The 26-year-old Jackson, sentenced to death for the 2000 killing of Beulah Mae Kaiser, was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m.

Emmett is scheduled to be executed July 24 for the 2001 bludgeoning death of a co-worker in Danville.

The appeals court said Virginia's protocol for administering the three-drug concoction is "largely identical" to that of Kentucky, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in April.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday put off deciding on the wireless industry's challenge to the regulations until the Federal Communications Commission gets preliminary clearance for the rules.

After a panel of experts appointed by the FCC pointed out that many cell towers along the Gulf Coast stopped working when they lost power during Hurricane Katrina, the agency proposed in May 2007 that all cell towers have a minimum of eight hours of backup power that would switch on in the event a tower lost its regular energy source.

The loss of power contributed to communication breakdowns that complicated rescue and recovery efforts during the 2005 disaster.

Wireless companies have said the regulations were illegally drafted and would present a huge economic and bureaucratic burden. In particular, they said, the thousands of generators or battery packs required would be expensive and local zoning rules or structural limitations could make installation impossible in some places.

The FCC agreed in October to exempt cell sites that a wireless carrier proved couldn't meet the rules. The FCC would give companies six months to report on the feasibility of installing backup power and another six months either to bring sites into compliance or explain how they would provide backup service through other means, such as portable cellular transmitters.

CTIA-The Wireless Association, Sprint Nextel Corp. and others asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., this year to intervene, saying the exemptions would still leave wireless companies scrambling to inspect and compile reports on thousands of towers.

The appeals court put the rules on hold while it heard each sides' arguments in May.

Judge Robert Russell steps down from his bench and from the aloofness of his black robe. He walks into the gallery where men and women accused of stealing, drug offenses and other non-violent felonies and misdemeanors fidget in plastic chairs.

"Good afternoon," he says, smiling, and talks for a minute about the session ahead.

With the welcoming tone set, Russell heads back behind the bench, where he will mete out justice with a disarming mix of small talk and life-altering advice.

While the defendants in this court have been arrested on charges that could mean potential prison time and damaging criminal records, they have another important trait in common: All have served their country in the military.

That combination has landed them here, in veterans treatment court, the first of its kind in the country.

Russell is the evenhanded quarterback of a courtroom team of veterans advocates and volunteers determined to make this brush with the criminal justice system these veterans' last.

Edward Marquette entered the plea at his arraignment in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday. He was charged with tampering with public records, offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records and official misconduct.

He had been scheduled to inspect the crane on March 4. It collapsed 11 days later, but officials said it was unlikely the inspection would have prevented that.

Justice Marcy Kahn allowed Marquette to remain free and ordered him back in court on Aug. 14. Neither he nor his lawyer would comment

The 4-0 decision ends the nearly decade-long court fight and spares the companies from potentially billions in cleanup costs for hundreds of thousands of contaminated homes.

Rhode Island was the first state to successfully sue former makers of lead pigment and paint, which can cause learning disabilities, brain damage and other health problems in children. A jury in 2006 found Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries, Inc. and Millennium Holdings LLC liable for creating a public nuisance by manufacturing a toxic product.

The state had proposed that the companies spend $2.4 billion inspecting and cleaning hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island homes believed to contain lead paint.

The ruling was immediately denounced by groups supporting punitive action against paint companies.