Prosecutors asked a federal judge on Thursday to sentence a former kosher slaughterhouse executive to 25 years in prison, less than the life sentence they have said they were entitled to request.

Former Agriprocessors Inc. manager Sholom Rubashkin, who was convicted of 86 counts of financial fraud in November, gave a tearful, halting speech at the end of his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. He was charged following a May 2008 immigration raid at the former Agriprocessors slaughterhouse, where 389 workers were arrested on immigration charges.

Rubashkin told the court he had made mistakes and was remorseful. In a thick Brooklyn accent, he reiterated that he was sorry for his actions, and that he was put in a position by his family of running the operations of a large plant for which he had no training or interest.

"I'm basically a conflicted and flawed human being," Rubashkin said. "Conflicted in that I allowed myself to be drafted into my family's business against my wishes and better judgment.

The former chief operating officer at the now-defunct law firm run by admitted Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein was charged Tuesday with money laundering conspiracy for her alleged role in the $1.2 billion scam.

Debra Villegas, 42, was accused of helping Rothstein concoct the fake legal settlements used to lure investors — even forging the names of fictional plaintiffs and defendants on the documents. Villegas, of Weston, became the second person charged in the scheme that brought down the Fort Lauderdale-based firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler — and there could be more to come.

"We remain committed to prosecuting investment fraud schemes and all who participate, from top to bottom," said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman of Miami.

Villegas faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of $1.2 million in cash, a home in Weston valued at about $407,000 that Rothstein transferred to Villegas and $130,000 Maserati Granturismo Coup that was a gift from Rothstein.

An attorney for Villegas did not immediately respond to an e-mail message seeking comment. She is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday; the type of charging document filed by prosecutors typically indicates that the defendant will eventually plead guilty.

A federal judge has ordered a one-month delay in the Enron-related May retrial of a former Merrill Lynch executive.

U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. agreed to delay Robert S. Furst's retrial to June 1 to accommodate plea negotiations. Prosecutors and defense attorneys told Werlein during a hearing Friday that they are close to a deal that would resolve the case.

Furst and two other executives were convicted in 2004 of helping push through Enron's sham sale to Merrill Lynch of three power barges moored off the Nigerian coast in 1999. The deal was struck to make the Enron energy division's earnings appear larger.

But an appeals court threw out their fraud and conspiracy convictions in 2006 after finding fault with the prosecution's legal theory.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday not to get involved in a dispute over how to prevent invasive Asian carp from making their way into the Great Lakes.

The justices turned down a new request from Michigan to consider ordering closure of Chicago-area shipping locks to prevent the fish from threatening the Great Lakes. The locks could provide a pathway to Lake Michigan for the unwanted carp.

The court had previously declined twice to order the locks closed on an emergency basis while it considered whether to hear the case. This time, the court rejected a proposal by Michigan and six other states to use a long-standing case involving water diversion from Lake Michigan as a vehicle for seeking to permanently sever a man-made linkage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin.

Michigan has led the legal fight to close the locks, arguing that the ravenous carp, weighing up to 100 pounds, could decimate the lakes' $7 billion fishing industry by starving out competitors such as salmon and walleye.

A federal appeals court has handed the government a victory by temporarily blocking a judge's finding that Congress shouldn't have halted federal funding to the activist group ACORN.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued the order Wednesday, a day after the government lawyer argued the stay of the ruling was necessary.

The government had argued that it was necessary to block the ruling to ensure that federal agencies were not required to commit funds that have not been appropriated by Congress.

A lawyer for ACORN says it may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court because the cutoff of funds is crippling ACORN and jeopardizing housing for poor people.

The Supreme Court Wednesday made it easier for consumers to sue debt collectors for sending erroneous collection notices.

The high court, in a 7-2 opinion by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, ruled that debt collectors can't shield themselves from such lawsuits by arguing that they made a legal error when sending a collection notice.

"We have long recognized the common maxim, familiar to all minds, that ignorance of the law will not excuse any person, either civilly or criminally," Justice Sotomayor wrote in a 30-page opinion.

At issue were the actions of an Ohio law firm that initiated foreclosure proceedings on behalf of Countrywide Home Loans Inc.

The homeowner, Karen Jerman, disputed that the debt existed. Countrywide later acknowledged that Ms. Jerman had in fact paid the debt, and the law firm withdrew the foreclosure lawsuit.

Ms. Jerman then sued the law firm, arguing that it violated federal debt-collection law by stating in its foreclosure suit that Ms. Jerman's alleged debt would be assumed to be valid unless she contested in writing.

A lower court agreed with Ms. Jerman that the firm violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, but ruled that the law firm was shielded from liability because the violation wasn't intentional and was the result of a bona fide legal error.

Justice Sotomayor and the court disagreed, ruling that Congress hadn't explicitly provided a mistake-of-law defense to debt collectors.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, dissented, saying the court's ruling could allow abusive litigation by plaintiffs' lawyers.