Legal News

Report: Scott Rothstein to Change Plea, Cop to Misdoings

By Ashby Jones

UPDATE: We just got off the phone with Marc Nurik, counsel to Rothstein, who confirmed that Rothstein is in the process of finalizing a plea agreement and plans to enter his guilty plea in court January 27. Rothstein, he adds, is cooperating with the authorities to help them locate assets and make his investors whole, but he is not helping prosecutors build a case against conspirators.

Back in November, weeks before Florida lawyer and alleged Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein was arrested, he gave a video interview to a Florida reporter, conceding that he had made mistakes and proclaiming that he planned to “do the right thing.”

Well, according to this story from the Miami Herald, phase one of Rothstein’s Spike Lee plan seems to be in the works: Rothstein will tell Miami federal judge James Cohn on Wednesday that he will change his plea from not-guilty to “running an investment racket that could send him to prison for 30 years to life.” Click here for previous LB coverage of the Rothstein case.

According to the Herald, Miami federal judge James Cohn will set a date for Rothstein, 47, to plead guilty in coming weeks, to be followed by his sentencing a few months later. “We are in the process of finalizing a plea agreement,” Marc Nurik, Rothstein’s attorney, told The Miami Herald Tuesday. “I can’t comment on any of the details.”

Rothstein has been cooperating with authorities as they build cases against members of his inner circle and now-defunct law firm. Rothstein is accused of executing a $1.2 billion scam by selling bogus legal settlements to wealthy investors — including five hedge funds that sank $775 million in the deals.

For now, Rothstein is being held in Miami’s federal detention center.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 06, 2010 (boomark / email).