Plead Guilty

WASHINGTON -- The founder of a Republican environmental organization was charged yesterday with tax evasion and obstruction of justice as part of the federal criminal investigation into lobbying practices in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal. Italia Federici, president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, allegedly failed to pay more than $77,000 in federal income taxes from 2001 to 2003 and made "false and fictitious" statements before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in 2005, as it probed Abramoff's lobbying for Native American tribes.

A Baltimore teenager pleaded guilty to murder Monday as his trial was set to begin, following a failed attempt last week to have a confession withheld from jurors in the case. Markell Shelton Jones, 18, shot and killed Freddie Jones Jr. at the Yau Brothers Chinese carryout on Greenmount Avenue on Halloween 2011 during a bungled robbery attempt. The attack was captured on surveillance cameras and police released the footage to the press. After Markell Jones' family recognized him on television, his grandfather called police to have him taken into custody, according to testimony at a motions hearing last week.

WASHINGTON -- One of the world's largest medical device manufacturers has agreed to plead guilty to more than 390 counts of fraud and human experimentation for selling untested heart catheters, Food and Drug Administration officials said yesterday. The sales resulted in at least one death and 22 emergency heart surgeries.The settlement, under which the company, C. R. Bard Inc., is to pay $61 million, is the largest health fraud case ever handled by the FDA and the Justice Department.Six executives were indicted separately and have not yet entered a plea.

State Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. of Pasadena, who was involved in a powerboat crash last August that injured him and several others, will plead guilty Tuesday in Annapolis District Court to operating a boat while drunk — part of plea deal that his attorney said includes prosecutors not seeking a jail sentence. "I truly regret the incident of Aug. 22 of last year," said Dwyer, 55, at a Monday news conference in Glen Burnie. The collision of his boat with another vessel injured Dwyer — he suffered a broken foot and neck injuries — and six others, including four children, on the other boat.

The son of a Perry Hall real estate broker admitted yesterday to helping his father in an extensive property flipping and mortgage fraud scheme that allegedly cost the federal government nearly $4 million. Steven Todd Schmidbauer, 40, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to make false statements. In two instances, he signed falsified documents to get government-backed mortgages arranged by his father, William Otto Schmidbauer. In both cases, Steven Schmidbauer defaulted on the loan, costing the government $161,151, court records show.

Facing potentially damaging evidence, a key player in an international Nigerian credit card fraud ring decided yesterday to plead guilty to money laundering charges in Baltimore, as well as heroin trafficking charges in New York.Christopher Tizhe, 36, will enter the plea today in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, his lawyer said during a hearing yesterday. Under the deal, Tizhe will receive 14 years in prison, but he will not be required to cooperate with federal prosecutors or agents.U.S.

Lonny Baxter, a former Maryland men's basketball standout who admitted last year to shooting a gun near the White House, plans to plead guilty next week to a related federal firearms violation, his attorney confirmed yesterday. Baxter, who was released from jail in October and has been playing for Montepaschi Siena in Italy's first division, was charged yesterday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt with failing to disclose weapons he shipped by express mail from Texas to College Park. His lawyer, Richard A. Finci, said Baxter would plead guilty next Thursday.

Ravens running back Jamal Lewis has agreed to plead guilty Thursday in federal court in Atlanta on the charge of using a cell phone to facilitate a drug transaction, a violation of the NFL's substance-abuse program that will trigger disciplinary action from the league. Several reports were broadcast last night speculating the length of the suspension might be two to four games. Terms of the plea deal, first reported by The Sun on Saturday, could become public as early as today pending a decision from U.S. District Judge Orinda D. Evans.

A Baltimore man who was acquitted of murder charges in July has agreed to plead guilty in federal court for trying to hire someone to kill an 11-year-old witness who testified at his trial, his lawyer said yesterday. DeAndre Whitehead, 20, is scheduled to appear Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. At the hearing, he is expected to plead guilty to one count of soliciting to commit a crime of violence, said Beth Faber, an assistant federal public defender. The case stems from the August 2003 shooting of Russell Peterson, 47, killed outside his Southwest Baltimore rowhouse.

Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick, one of the NFL's most exciting and marketable quarterbacks the past six seasons, will plead guilty to career-threatening federal charges tied to a dogfighting ring operated on his Virginia property, his attorney said yesterday. Vick will formally enter his plea Monday as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors that includes a recommendation for prison time. A government official told the Associated Press that prosecutors will recommend Vick be sentenced to between a year and 18 months in prison.

A Baltimore County police officer pleaded guilty to misconduct and agreed to resign after admitting to filming himself numerous times engaging in sex acts and neglecting to respond to calls while on duty. Aaron Z. Pross, 29, who had been assigned to the Pikesville Precinct, took more than 120 images and 20 videos engaging in sexual acts with himself, including one where he masturbated inside his patrol car while reports of "possible guns involved," can be heard over a police radio, prosecutors said.

Frank James MacArthur, the blogger known as the Baltimore Spectator, could go on trial in May after pleading not guilty Monday to gun and resisting-arrest charges that have kept him in jail for months. MacArthur is accused in connection with a December standoff as Baltimore police tried to arrest him on a probation violation charge. During the standoff, MacArthur protested his arrest on an online radio station and live-streamed his telephone discussions with a police negotiator over the Internet.

A former volunteer firefighter who worked with youth at the Lansdowne fire department pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to producing and possessing child pornography. Anthony Maurice Cottle, 23, of Owings Mills, faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison after engaging in sexually activity with two boys and filming the encounters. Authorities recovered more than 600 images of child pornography from Cottle's computer and cell phone, which included images of additional victims, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office.

Ravens linebacker Rolando McClain, who was originally scheduled to be at the City of Decatur (Ala.) Municipal Court tomorrow, has pleaded guilty to a window tint violation stemming from his arrest in January following a traffic stop. In exchange, the city has dismissed the charge of providing false information to police during the arrest. McClain, who signed an expletive on the citation rather than his real name, thus resulting in the providing false information charge, made an online payment of $186 to settle the fine and court costs and any other fees associated with this case.

Six military veterans from Maryland pleaded guilty to fraud charges this week in a scheme to obtain federal military benefits and state tax breaks with faked documentation claiming they were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office. The veterans allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to David Clark, the former deputy chief of veterans claims in the state Department of Veterans Affairs Office, in exchange for $1.4 million in fraudulent benefits and tax breaks, prosecutors said.

Baltimore County Councilman Todd Huff was sentenced Tuesday to two years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to driving under the influence. Baltimore County Circuit Judge Timothy Martin also gave Huff a one-year suspended jail sentence. He ordered Huff not to drink alcohol during his probation, and to submit to random urine tests as part of the state's Drinking Driver Monitor Program. He also ordered Huff to complete a 26-week alcohol treatment program that the councilman has already started.

Tarey Faust was seeking revenge.Earlier on that hot July night, a group of white men had taunted Faust with racial slurs after he stopped at a pay phone at Miles Avenue and 29th Street in Remington. Faust fled after a bottle shattered the rear window of his car. He went to his home in the 2800 block of Remington Ave., phoned his best friend and they went looking for the men, prosecutors said.Faust, who is black, was stabbed twice in the ensuing confrontation. His friend, Harold Parker, 27, died after being stabbed three times during the July 18 incident.

A woman who prosecutors said brought a rifle to the shooting of a Reisterstown teen pleaded guilty Monday to attempted first-degree murder and use of a gun, according to a spokesman for Howard County prosecutors. Howard County Circuit Court Judge Richard S. Bernhardt set a sentencing date of July 5, when prosecutors are expected to seek a 25-year sentence for Chiquita Sketers, 22, of Randallstown, according to spokesman T. Wayne Kirwan. The plea stems from a June 19, 2012, incident in which Sterling Randolph Watts, 15, was shot in the back of the head, but survived life-threatening injuries.

A Baltimore woman pleaded guilty Monday to helping her 13-year-old son and a 12-year-old friend conceal the fatal shooting last year of 13-year-old girl. Monae Turnage was still breathing when the boys moved her from a Northeast Baltimore rowhouse to an alley, prosecutors have said. The girl's body was found under trash bags behind the Cliftview Avenue home about 20 hours after she was reported missing last March. Veronica Alford, 49, was accused of helping the boys move the girl.