The CEO of National Lampoon Inc. has pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia say CEO Daniel Laikin was part of a plot to artificially inflate the company's stock price by paying people to buy shares. The 47-year-old man, who lives in Indianapolis and Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to conspiracy Wednesday. Prosecutors dropped a count of securities fraud in exchange.

Prosecutors say Laikin and others hoped to push the price of the shares from $2 to $5 to boost its attractiveness in a strategic partnership or acquisition. The shares were trading on the American Stock Exchange at the time but prosecutors say they've since become an over-the-counter penny stock.

Defense lawyer Joseph Poluka did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

A Florida jury has found a Miami-area special needs teacher guilty of abuse after authorities say she put hot sauce in an autistic student's soda.

Sylvia Tagle was convicted Tuesday. Authorities say she gave the spiked soda to the student to teach him a lesson. Tagle says the boy grabbed the soda from her desk when she was with other students.

Jurors found Tagle not guilty of three other charges, including pulling a student's hair. Her attorney says she's a strict but dedicated teacher who maintains her innocence.

Tagle taught at the Bob Graham Educational Center in Miami Lakes. Her sentencing is set for Oct. 7. She faces a maximum of five years in jail.

Federal prosecutors say an Illinois man has pleaded guilty in an identity theft ring that ensnared Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as a victim.

Forty-nine-year-old Leonardo Darnell Zanders of Dolton, Ill., entered the guilty plea on Monday after several witnesses testified at his trial.

According to testimony and court documents, Zanders directed a nationwide fraud scheme to steal from people and financial institutions.

At trial on Monday, co-defendant Darrell Earl Price testified that Zanders gave him checks in the name of Ben and Anna Bernanke, and Price used those checks in the scheme.

A former drug enforcement official employed by accused swindler Allen Stanford has pleaded not guilty to charges that he illegally ordered shredding of documents in the fraud case.

Thomas Raffanello entered the plea Friday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. The 61-year-old Raffanello rose to became head of global security at Stanford Financial Group after leaving five years ago as chief of Miami's U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office.

Prosecutors say Raffanello illegally supervised destruction of Stanford records despite a court order that they be preserved. The three charges against Raffanello carry a combined maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

Raffanello's attorney says his client is innocent and that the destroyed documents were only duplicates.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Tuesday denied 53-year-old Romell Broom's request to stay the execution and to allow an appeal to go before the full court.

A three-judge panel of the court had rejected the appeal late Monday.

Broom's attorney Tim Sweeney said there were no further appeals options.

The state had stopped its execution preparations pending the appeals court decision. A prisons spokeswoman says preparations have resumed and estimated the execution will take place about 1:30 p.m.

Broom was convicted in the 1984 slaying of Tryna Middleton after abducting her at knifepoint in Cleveland.

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled against Universal Music Group in a copyright lawsuit against online video site operator Veoh Networks Inc., although Universal says it will appeal.

U.S. District Judge Howard Matz on Friday dismissed the 2007 suit in which Universal accused Veoh of supporting and inducing copyright infringement.

Matz ruled that Veoh was taking reasonable steps to prevent and take down infringing videos uploaded by its users and that gave it protection from copyright suits in federal law.

Veoh CEO Dmitry Shapiro called the decision "a great victory." The company noted that with the ruling, it expects to become profitable within the next two quarters.

The lawsuit cost "many millions of dollars" to defend, money that would now be reinvested in the business, he said.

"We've been dragging a giant boulder on a chain. This frees us," Shapiro said. "This lawsuit was simply Universal's attempt to prevent innovation and shut down the company."

Privately held Veoh was founded in 2004 and to date has raised $70 million from such investors as Shelter Capital Partners, Michael Eisner, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc.

Universal, a unit of France's Vivendi SA, said it will appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying it runs counter to precedent and the intent of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act enacted in 1998.

The Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III sued their brother, Dexter King, last year to force him to open the books of their father's estate. The lawsuit claims Dexter King, the estate's administrator, has refused to provide documents concerning the estate's operations. A hearing in the case was set Monday morning.

Dexter King also sued his sister, who administers their mother's estate. He asked a judge to force her to turn over Coretta Scott King's personal papers, including love letters central to a now-defunct $1.4 million book deal.