A Prairieville man pleaded guilty in Baton Rouge federal court to a charge of mail fraud concerning his use of almost $200,000 worth of computer equipment.

The Advocate reports that 30-year-old Dustin J. Landry admitted Wednesday that he increased his income by $196,841 over a 4-year period by selling computer equipment that belonged to his Baton Rouge employer.

Landry's plea agreement shows the scheme was carried out between June 2006 and April 2010 at MMR Group Inc., where Landry worked as an information-technology specialist.

The mail fraud conviction carries a possible penalty of 20 years in prison and fines that could total $250,000.

A West Virginia man who passed a counterfeit $50 bill at a livestock market in Roane County has been convicted in a counterfeit money scheme.

The government says a federal jury in Charleston convicted 36-year-old Roger L. Atkinson II on Thursday of knowingly conspiring to possess, manufacture and pass counterfeit currency.

Prosecutors said the Spencer man conspired with Lawrence E. Holbrook in the scheme, which helped support their drug habits. Holbrook pleaded guilty earlier for his role.

A Philadelphia abortion doctor charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of seven newborns and a female patient is due to appear before a judge.

Kermit Gosnell is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday. He is expected to tell the judge whether he has found a lawyer.

Prosecutors say Gosnell ran a filthy West Philadelphia abortion clinic where undertrained staff routinely took part in illegal late-term abortions. A grand jury report says Gosnell killed viable, live-born babies by stabbing them in the neck with scissors.

Last week, Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes denied Gosnell's request for a public defender. Nine other employees, including Gosnell's wife, face charges.

A former bookkeeper will serve two years in prison for embezzling a little more than $135,000 from the Gulfport law firm.

The Sun Herald reports that Circuit Judge Larry Bourgeois gave Heather Denise Parker the maximum penalty of 10 years on Monday and suspended eight, leaving two to serve. He also ordered restitution.

Prosecutors say once Parker serves her time, she will be brought before the judge for an order on how to repay the money.

She had been free on bond since Dec. 6, when she pleaded guilty in Harrison County Circuit Court.

As the chief courier of a California-to-Ohio marijuana shipping scheme pleaded guilty Friday, prosecutors said the investigation continued into other possible suspects in the plot that brought hundreds of pounds of marijuana hidden in suitcases to Ohio on private jets.

Authorities say Lisette Lee was the primary courier for a scheme that distributed about 7,000 pounds of the drug and made more than $3 million from November 2009 through April.

"Obviously other people were involved in the case," assistant U.S. attorney Tim Pritchard said after Lee pleaded guilty. "We're continuing to look as we were from the first day."

Lee, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana. She faces 10 years to life, though under federal sentencing rules she's likely to receive the lower sentence.

Frank Edwards, of Hacienda, Calif., was among five others arrested in the case. He pleaded guilty Friday to a similar charge involving more than 200 pounds of pot. He faces five to 40 years in prison, but also is not expected to receive the longest term.

Lee recruited Edwards, 40, to act as a courier and he was not involved in obtaining or distributing the marijuana, according to testimony Friday by Matthew Heufelder, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent.

A janitor pleaded not guilty to murder Friday in the death of a Northern California school principal who was shot after sending the suspect home to "cool off" over a personnel dispute.

John Luebbers, 44, was charged after telling investigators he fired two shots and struck Principal Sam LaCara, 50, in the office at Louisiana Schnell Elementary School in Placerville, police said. Luebbers told police that LaCara had fired him Wednesday just days after the two friends had gone golfing.

School officials, however, said Luebbers had only been sent home for the day after the two had an argument about the district's selection of a new nighttime custodian. Luebbers entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment Friday afternoon and was held without bail. Family members attended the hearing but did not address reporters outside