Goodling resigned from her position as White House liaison at the DOJ in April and the DOJ has since opened an investigation into whether she considered the political affiliations of candidates for career prosecutor positions in the DOJ, contrary to federal law and longstanding departmental practice.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali", told the Iraqi High Tribunal Thursday that he did not use or issue an order to use chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels in the late 1980s. During defense closing arguments, al-Majid defended the government of Saddam Hussein for its actions during the "Anfal campaign", but insisted that he did not know who used chemical weapons, "if they were ever used."

Al-Majid and five other former Hussein-era officials face genocide charges for their alleged involvement in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds during the Anfal campaign. Defense witnesses have repeatedly testified that the defendants did not have access to chemical weapons and that no orders were received to use them. Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Al-Majid and three other defendants and have asked that charges be dropped against one of the defendants due to lack of evidence. Al-Majid became the leading defendant in the trial following Hussein's execution last year. The trial has now been adjourned until June 10.

Also, in a rare move, three executives of Purdue Pharma — President Michael Friedman, top lawyer Howard Udell and former medical director Dr. Paul Goldenheim — pleaded guilty Thursday to misbranding charges, a criminal violation.

They agreed to pay a total of $34.5 million in fines.

The fines will be distributed to state and federal law enforcement agencies, the federal government, federal and state Medicaid programs, a Virginia prescription monitoring program and individuals who had sued the company.

The plea agreement settled a national case and came two days after the company agreed to pay $19.5 million to 26 states and the District of Columbia to settle complaints that it encouraged physicians to overprescribe OxyContin.

"With its OxyContin, Purdue unleashed a highly abusable, addictive, and potentially dangerous drug on an unsuspecting and unknowing public," U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said.

"For these misrepresentations and crimes, Purdue and its executives have been brought to justice."

Purdue spokesman James Heins objected to any suggestion of ties between the plea agreement and the abuse of OxyContin. "We promoted the medicine only to health care professionals, not to consumers," he said in a statement.

Purdue Pharma said it accepted responsibility for its employees' actions and has taken steps to ensure "similar events" do not occur again.

OxyContin is a powerful, long-acting narcotic that provides relief of serious pain for up to 12 hours. Initially, Purdue Pharma contended that OxyContin, because of its time-release formulation, posed a lower threat of abuse and addiction to patients than traditional, shorter acting painkillers like Percocet or Vicodin.

That claim became the lynchpin of the most aggressive marketing campaign ever undertaken by a pharmaceutical company for such a drug. Just a few years after its debut in 1996, annual sales hit $1 billion.

Purdue Pharma heavily promoted OxyContin to doctors who had little training in the treatment of serious pain or in recognizing signs of drug abuse in patients.

But both experienced drug abusers and novices, including teenagers, soon discovered that chewing an OxyContin tablet or crushing one and then snorting the powder or injecting it with a needle produced a high as powerful as heroin.

By 2000, several parts of the U.S. began to see skyrocketing rates of addiction and crime related to the drug's use.

In a proceeding Thursday morning in U.S. District Court, both Purdue Pharma and those executives acknowledged that the company fraudulently marketed OxyContin for six years as a drug that was less prone to abuse as well as one that also had fewer narcotic side effects.

Federal officials said that internal Purdue Pharma documents show that company officials recognized even before the drug was marketed that they would face stiff resistance from doctors concerned about OxyContin's potential to be abused.

As a result, company officials developed a fraudulent marketing campaign to promote OxyContin as a time-released drug less prone to such problems.

A series of emails released by the Department of Justice in March revealed that Rove originally suggested firing all 93 US Attorneys in January 2005, contradicting earlier assertions by the White House that the idea first came from former White House counsel Harriet Miers. The same month, the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and Sampson, rejecting Bush's interview offer. The House Judiciary Committee later subpoenaed Rove, Miers, and several aides to testify in a concurrent investigation. The Department of Justice is currently investigating whether Gonzales' former White House liaison Monica Goodling considered political affiliation in hiring replacement US attorneys in violation of federal law.

Debs is already serving a life sentence without parole for the murders of policemen Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller in Moorabbin in 1998, a year after he murdered the teenager. His plea hearing will be held at a later date.

"I feel very terrible about the activities that went on," Courtney told Judge William Dimitrouleas as he entered the guilty plea for conspiring to possess a load of heroin with intent to distribute.

On Wednesday, Thomas Simcox pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge. The officers' punishment could range from 10 years to life in prison, with the possibility of a reduced sentence for cooperating with the government.

Two other officers pleaded guilty last month.

No other police officers are expected to be charged, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the case.

But there is still an ongoing probe into who leaked information about the FBI sting, forcing federal agents to abort the investigation before they were able to make further arrests.

Simcox pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess a load of heroin with intent to distribute. An extortion-conspiracy charge was dropped as part of the plea deal with the officers.

All four officers cut a similar deal.

They were all accused of providing security in an FBI sting in which undercover agents posed as organized crime figures during a series of stings -- from illegal gambling to transporting narcotics.

All four have pleaded guilty to the one conspiracy count of providing protection to move more than one kilo of heroin from Miami Beach to Oakwood Plaza in Hollywood for what the officers believed were mob-connected drug dealers.

The plea comes nearly three months after Simcox and the three other officers -- Kevin Companion, Stephen Harrison and Courtney -- were arrested by federal agents.

Simcox will be sentenced July 18 and Courtney will be sentenced on July 27.

Originally, Simcox was the only one of the four cooperating with authorities. He is alleged to have worn a concealed recording device for nearly a month.

Simcox's attorney, Bruce Udolf, would not comment on the extent of his client's cooperation with authorities.

Simcox agreed to surrender his law enforcement certificate and repay the FBI $16,000. Courtney must also surrender his certificate and repay the FBI $22,000.

Officials said Simcox received $8,000 in cash for protecting the load of heroin, and a total of $16,000 during his involvement in the illegal activities.

The FBI sting, dubbed Operation Tarnished Badge, was part of a two-year probe in which the officers were accused of providing protection for what they thought were illegal gambling and drug-dealing operations.

The four were charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute a multi-kilo load of heroin between October and November 2006.

A former teacher charged with having sex with a 14-year-old middle school student and running off to Mexico with him pleaded guilty Wednesday to a sodomy charge.

Angela Renee Comer, 28, would serve 10 years in prison under her plea agreement, in which the prosecutor agreed to drop most other charges. Besides one count of third-degree sodomy, Comer pleaded guilty to one count of custodial interference.

She had faced up to 20 years on each of four counts of first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor and up to five years each for two counts of third-degree sodomy.

Comer said in an interview with The Associated Press after the court hearing that she was glad to avoid a trial, which had been scheduled to start today.

"A trial is very stressful for everyone, and I just want this to be over," she said.

Comer entered the courtroom wearing jeans and an orange jail T-shirt and answered a series of questions from the judge before entering the plea.

Police said Comer had a sexual affair with the boy, who is now 16, and took him without his guardian's permission. Authorities found Comer, her young son and the teen in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on Jan. 10, 2006.

The boy's grandmother watched as Comer entered the plea. The boy, who was not in court Wednesday, was removed from her care after the incident and placed in a foster home, she said.

"I'm relieved that it's over. This has been going on for 16 months and I don't think anyone should have to wait that length of time. It's been very difficult for me," the grandmother said.

The Associated Press is not using the grandmother's name to protect the identity of the boy. It is the policy of the AP not to identify victims of sex crimes in most cases.

The grandmother said the boy is a high school sophomore now. He's embarrassed by the incident and has had little contact with his family since he was moved into foster care, she said.

"He doesn't want to come back here, because he says they'll judge him," she said.

Comer said she expects to be eligible for parole after serving 24 months of the sentence. She said she also will be required to complete a sex offender treatment program that takes from 12 to 18 months. Comer has been in jail for the 16 months since her arrest.

Comer also said since her arrest her ex-husband has not permitted her to see her 5-year-old son, who is autistic.

Prosecutor Jesse Stockton declined to comment, pending Comer's formal sentencing, scheduled for June 20.