Man accused of taking trade secrets pleads guilty

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A scientist accused of stealing trade secrets from a Utah chemistry company has pleaded guilty to a federal charge.

Prabhu Mohapatra pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to one count of unlawful access to a protected computer.

The Deseret News reports (http://bit.ly/JOw00o ) prosecutors agreed to drop 25 other charges against him in exchange for the plea.

The 42-year-old Mohapatra had worked for North Logan-based Frontier Scientific Inc. from 2009 to 2011. He admitted to accessing a company notebook and emailing the recipe for meso-Tetraphenylporphine, or TPP, to his brother-in-law's company in India.

Frontier officials say no other company in the world produces the chemical in such large quantities.

Mohapata faces up to five years in prison when he's sentenced Aug. 28.

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Information from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com

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Judge nixes accused NYC madam's latest bail bid

NEW YORK (AP) -- The accused madam of a multimillion-dollar Manhattan prostitution ring has lost a new bid to get out of jail.

On Monday, a judge denied Anna Gristina's latest request to get her $2 million bond lowered. He said another judge had acted rationally in setting the bond.

Gristina's lawyers say the bond is unjustly high and her family can't afford it. Prosecutors say the amount is warranted. They say they believe Gristina has the money and mentality to flee.

Gristina lawyer, Gary Greenwald, says he plans to appeal.

The 44-year-old suburban mother has pleaded not guilty to a low-level felony charge of promoting prostitution.

Prosecutors say she ran a brothel for 15 years and claimed to have law-enforcement connections.

Her lawyers say she was starting a dating service.

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