She's also accused of going online to siphon more than 80-thousand dollars from the attorney's personal bank account. According to the indictment, some of that money was used to pay down the balances on the two fraudulent credit accounts.

Hufner was arrested yesterday on charges of identity theft, access device fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and mail fraud. She faces up to 102 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Retail gasoline prices rose in Texas this week for the sixth week in a row.

But the weekly AAA Texas gas price survey released today finds the upward trend slowed this week.

The statewide average price for regular-grade gasoline rose 3 cents this week to $2.41 per gallon. That's after an 11 cent increase the week before. Nationally, the price average rose 4 cents per gallon to $2.55 per gallon.

Auto club spokeswoman Rose Rougeau says strong consumer demand, a relatively high crude oil price and seasonal refinery conversions to warm-weather blends are behind the price spikes.

The most expensive regular-grade gasoline is in Amarillo, where the average price rose five cents this week to $2.51 per gallon. Drivers are paying an average of $2.40 a gallon in Austin and San Marcos. The cheapest gas is in Corpus Christi, where it rose a penny to $2.32 per gallon.

A Long Beach attorney has sued a national nursing home corporation, which owns three Inland area facilities, claiming residents did not receive adequate care as they were promised.

Stephen Garcia said Friday that he filed the lawsuit on behalf of more than a dozen residents of 13 Life Care Centers of America located in Southern California. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of a woman who was a resident at Lake Forest Nursing Center, which is a Life Care Centers facility in Lake Forest.

Garcia said he might ask a judge to certify the lawsuit for class-action status, which could include thousands of Life Care Centers residents.

Life Care Centers of America, based in Cleveland, Tenn., owns more than 260 centers in 28 states, according to its Web site. No one there could be reached Friday.

Mark Krueger, Life Care's regional vice president in Corona, also could not be reached.

Life Care Centers' Inland area facilities are in Barstow, Corona and Sun City. Garcia did not immediately know the names of residents in those facilities who are part of the lawsuit.

Garcia said he wants an independent monitor to be appointed to oversee the nursing homes to make sure residents get appropriate care.

"We'll drop the lawsuit if they agree to get an independent monitor," he said. "We already sent a lengthy letter, and they ignored it."

Garcia claims Life Care Centers facilities provides residents substandard care and violates their rights. The corporation promises specific medical and therapeutic care but does not do so, he said.

Garcia claims the corporation shortchanges residents on care so it can keep more of its profits.

"The problem is the facilities don't have the staff to meet the needs of the residents," he said. "There's nothing wrong with making a fair profit. But this is a moneymaking bonanza."

Garcia said Life Care Centers facilities have been "unpoliced" because the California Department of Health Services, which regulates nursing homes, does not have time to inspect them.

Department spokesman Mike Bowman said he could not comment because he had not seen Garcia's lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Web site shows Life Care Center of Corona was last inspected Dec. 23, 2005. Sun City Convalescent Center last was inspected Oct. 5, 2006. Rimrock Villa Convalescent Center in Barstow last was inspected April 13, 2006.

"We need to get someone in there to look after these people," Garcia said. "We're talking about our mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers."

In an email from Kyle Sampson at the Justice Department to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former-deputy White House Counsel David Leitch and Colin Newman of the White House Counsel's Office, Sampson said that Rove had asked whether the administration planned to fire all US attorneys.

Sampson said that the White House Counsel's Office planned to fire "underperforming" attorneys, further stating that the majority of US Attorneys are "are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies." The emails also reveal that Gonzales discussed the firings several weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general.

A German court has ruled that it is legal to sell anti-Nazi T-shirts that use the swastika.

A lower court had ruled that Jurgen Kamm, who runs a business called "Nix Gut" or "Nothing Good," was in violation of a law against displaying the swastika, giving the Hitler salute or wearing Nazi uniforms. He was fined almost $5,000.

Kamm, who describes himself as left-wing, sells T-shirts, badges and bumper stickers that bear a swastika with a red slash through it or show someone putting a swastika in a garbage can.

The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe found that his wares "clearly and unambiguously" carry an anti-Nazi message, Deutsche Welle reported.

Following the 25-year sentence in federal prison, Young will face five years of supervised release for operating a prostitution ring spanning from Michigan to Hawaii. Young recruited and directed females – including minors – to engage in prostitution. Young transported women and children and facilitated their transportation across state lines by car and airplane. Young reaped substantial financial benefit and laundered the proceeds of his illegal prostitution activities with the help of co-conspirators.

Young’s sentencing comes after his plea of guilt to 26 offenses including sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity, transportation for prostitution, sexual exploitation of children, possession and interstate distribution of child pornography, threatening interstate communications, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, felon in possession of a firearm, money laundering, and use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering. In addition, Young was also convicted of producing and distributing child pornography for his use on a Web site to advertise the availability of his prostitutes including a 17-year-old-girl he exploited.

As part of his sentence, Young was also ordered to forfeit property gained through and used in furtherance of his crimes including computer equipment, furs, clothing, jewelry, electronics and cash.

Young’s co-conspirators have also been convicted of their role in the prostitution operation. Young’s Honolulu associates, Mark Luke White and Hae Sun Kim face sentencing later this year. Jeffrey McCoy, one of Young’s co-defendants pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Hawaii earlier this year. A second Detroit associate, George Abro, who laundered the proceeds and assisted in the prostitution ring, pleaded guilty to federal offenses in October 2006 and will be sentenced later this year as well. A Chicago dentist, Dr. Gary Kimmel, is under indictment and charged with financial offenses related to his support of Young's organization and is scheduled for trial in September 2007.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, Michigan State Police, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS, the Detroit Major Crimes Task Force, the Detroit Police Department, and the Macomb County Enforcement Team.

In Hawaii, the investigation was led by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force comprised of members from the State Attorney General’s Office, the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Honolulu Police Department with substantial assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Porter of the District of Hawaii.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Kayla Bakshi of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney John O’Brien of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Porter for the District of Hawaii. In the spring of 2003, the Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section of FBI headquarters, in partnership with CEOS and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, initiated the Innocence Lost Initiative, designed to address the growing problem of children forced into prostitution. To date, the Innocence Lost Initiative has resulted in 275 open investigations, 697 arrests, 160 informations or indictments, and 136 convictions in the federal and state systems.