The co-owner of a payroll company pleaded guilty Wednesday to a scheme to defraud business clients of more than $4 million by diverting employee taxes to his personal use, federal officials said.

Stephen E. Taylor, 34, of Canton pleaded guilty to wire fraud and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined $250,000 at sentencing June 27 in U.S. District Court, officials said.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Taylor was co-owner of 20/20 Payroll Solutions, with offices in Georgia, Texas and Alabama.

"This defendant took advantage of more than 100 innocent business owners, including many mom-and-pop operations," Nahmias said. "He took the funds clients entrusted him with to pay their employees' taxes and used the funds instead for his own personal benefit.

'When his scheme spiraled out of control, he began using the funds of one client to pay for the taxes owed by other clients. In less than two years, he cheated his clients out of more than $4 million dollars," the prosecutor said

In August 2006, Rosen and Weissman asked Ellis to dismiss the charges, arguing that the law is unconstitutionally vague and violates their right to free speech. Ellis, however, upheld the constitutionality of the Espionage Act.

A Cook County jury convicted Mantas Matulis of second-degree murder Monday night in the death of Tombol Malik, a 23-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago student beaten to death with a bike lock in 2005.

Prosecutors had brought first-degree murder charges against Matulis, 22, alleging he kicked Malik in the head after an accomplice beat him with the lock. But the defense argued Matulis acted in self-defense, and the jury convicted him of the lesser charge after seven hours of deliberation.

The second-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of four to 20 years in prison.

Last week, Cooke refused to dismiss the terror charges based on Padilla's allegations that he was tortured. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an "enemy combatant" at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Initially accused of planning to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged  in November 2005 on unrelated counts of conspiracy to murder US nationals and supporting terrorist activity. He was transferred to civilian custody  in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. In February, Padilla was ruled competent to stand trial.

PORTSMOUTH - A local attorney was arrested Friday on four charges alleging he used the address of his downtown law office to register three cars, in spite of living in Kittery, Maine.

According to Katie Daley, spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Highway Patrol, Richard Foley, 53, was charged at the Newington Police Department on three felony counts of title fraud.

If convicted, according to Daley, Foley could be sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison. The convictions could also be punishable by a maximum $4,000 fine for each of the four felony counts.

Foley was also arrested on a misdemeanor count of tampering with public records, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $1,200 fine.

The Division of Motor Vehicles Highway Patrol reports that Foley's arrest followed a two-month investigation. That investigation, according to the state, was based on information that Foley was using his 414 State St. law office to claim New Hampshire residency for the purpose of registering and titling three of his own vehicles.

Daley said the state is not releasing the attorney's Kittery street address.

Automobiles registered in New Hampshire are not subject to an excise tax, as is the case in Maine, where auto insurance is also mandated. The amount of the Maine tax is determined by the age of the vehicle and the suggested retail price.

Following his arrest, Foley was released on $4,000 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to be arraigned May 23 in Portsmouth District Court.