Vincent Cantu, who served eight years with the Pasadena Police Department, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.

Cantu admitted robbing two La Habra banks last year and was suspected of robbing three others in 2005 and 2006. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to pursue the other alleged robberies.

The FBI called Cantu the "Polite Bandit" because he allegedly apologized to his victims. In one instance, prosecutors say, Cantu told a weeping bank teller that he is sorry but needed to take $10,000 for his son.

Cantu pleaded guilty to robbery and using a firearm during a crime of violence, which carries a sentenced up to life in prison.

The court ruled Monday that undocumented workers who use phony identification can't be considered identity thieves unless they knew they were using ID numbers from real people. Some officials at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, where hundreds of illegal immigrants were arrested in a raid last year, face identity theft counts.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Linda Reade allowed former human resources employee Laura Althouse to drop the guilty plea to identity theft she made in October. She still faces sentencing May 13 on a charge of conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants for financial gain.

Former Agriprocessors vice president Sholom Rubashkin also faces identity theft-related charges and has pleaded not guilty. His attorney Guy Cook said he will file "very soon" a motion to dismiss some of the counts against his client based on the Supreme Court ruling.

The high court's decision limits federal authorities' use of a 2004 law designed to get tough on identity thieves.

Authorities charged 270 illegal immigrants with identity theft following the raid at the Postville plant on May 12, 2008. They all accepted plea deals in which they agreed not to fight deportation.

Saberi was jailed on April 18 on charges of spying for the United States, Iran's arch foe. The case could complicate Washington's efforts toward reconciliation with the Islamic Republic after three decades of mutual mistrust.

Her father said the 32-year-old was "very weak" after refusing food for two weeks in Tehran's Evin prison in protest at the verdict. Reza Saberi said his daughter fainted a few days ago and had been given intravenous fluid.

Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said he had no information about this. He denied that Saberi was on hunger strike and said she was in good health.

The U.S. administration of President Barak Obama, who has offered a new beginning of engagement with Iran if it "unclenches its fist," says the espionage charges against Saberi are baseless and has demanded her immediate release.

Reid on Tuesday paid tribute to Obama's past experience as a law professor and said he's confident he'll send a very qualified nominee to the Senate. The Nevada Democrat also said he doesn't expect Republicans to filibuster Obama's choice.

He said he hopes Obama goes outside the existing legal system and finds a former governor or senator, or someone who has "real life experiences."

Reid said that "I feel comfortable that his choice will be as good as his Cabinet choices."

Obama's two-part plan, which he will announce later Monday at the White House, also embraces 800 additional federal agents to enforce the tax code.

The president's proposal would eliminate some tax deductions for companies that earn profits in countries with low tax rates, as well as consider U.S. citizens who use tax havens in the Bahamas or Cayman Islands guilty of violating U.S. tax laws. If Obama wins congressional approval for the changes — and he faces a challenge on Capitol Hill — the new enforcement initiative could yield $210 billion in tax revenue over the next decade.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was to join Obama for the comments. The White House released details of the plan earlier Monday.

White House officials acknowledged the political challenges facing the plan. The administration won't seek a complete repeal of overseas tax benefits and, although the rule changes are narrower than some anticipated, business leaders still oppose them as a tax hike. Obama aides countered that the plan is a step toward the massive overhaul of international financial regulations that the president has promised.

In exchange, Obama said he was willing to make permanent a research tax credit that was to expire at the end of the year and is popular with businesses. Officials estimate that making the tax credits permanent would cost taxpayers $74.5 billion over the next decade.

The privately held company also reached a deal that will allow a Crown Acquisitions affiliate to buy 17 of its 25 stores, including its flagship locations in Boston and New York. The agreement is subject to a bankruptcy court auction, which is expected in about five weeks.

The auction will allow other companies to submit bids for the 17 stores, as well as for the rest of the Filene's Basement locations and the chain's other assets.

New York-based Crown, a real estate and asset management company, plans to continue running the 17 stores under the Filene's Basement name.

Buxbaum Group, a California-based liquidator, acquired Filene's last month through an affiliate company, FB II Acquisition Corp. The sale came after the previous owner, Retail Ventures Inc., said the chain was experiencing "significant liquidity problems."

Filene's Basement, known for its "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sale, was founded more than a century ago in Boston.

Lawyers for John Odgren say he was legally insane when he fatally stabbed 15-year-old James Alenson at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in January 2007.

A judge ruled last year that prosecutors improperly obtained more than 30 hours of Odgren's jailhouse conversations.

But prosecutors say they obtained the recordings lawfully. They want to play the recordings at Odgren's trial because they believe the conversations show a lucid boy who was not in the throes of mental illness.

The Supreme Judicial Court will hear prosecutors' appeal on Monday.