Edwards Friend Pleads Guilty in Plot

A casino consultant and friend of former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards pleaded guilty in federal court in Baton Rouge to conspiring to funnel more than $500,000 in cash, vans and home furnishings to Edwards and his son. Under a plea bargain, Richard Shetler, 44, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. pleaded guilty this week to concealing an alleged scheme by Edwards to extort $400,000 in payoffs in return for a license for another riverboat casino. Edwards has not been charged in either case but has been under FBI investigation for two years.