"If I was anybody else, I wouldn't be going to court," Simpson told a reporter for Fargo, N.D., radio station KFGO who interviewed him late Tuesday at a Fargo cigar bar. Simpson was vacationing in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.

"How many trials have you ever heard of where both of the victims say they don't want this guy to go to jail, they don't want to go to court, and you still go to court?" Simpson asked. "It's only me.

"But unfortunately for me," Simpson said, "I got like a bull's eye on my front, dollar sign on my back, you get involved with people who want to be governor and stuff."

Clark County District Attorney David Roger declined comment.

Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, said Thursday that Simpson was venting his frustration about facing trial Sept. 8 in Las Vegas on charges carrying the possibility of prison time.

"I think O.J.'s comments show how totally frustrated he is over this incident that involves family heirlooms that were stolen from him by some very nefarious characters," Galanter said.

Galanter also downplayed Simpson's comments about the prosecutor, saying that he had the "utmost respect" for Roger and another prosecutor in the case, Chris Owens.

"I have no reason to believe their motives in this case have been anything less than ethical and honorable," Galanter said.

Simpson and two co-defendants, Ehrlich and Clarence "C.J." Stewart, have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon charges stemming from allegations they robbed two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas casino hotel room last September. Simpson has denied any guns were involved.

A kidnapping conviction carries the possibility of life in prison with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction would mean mandatory prison time.

Court-appointed receiver J. Clark Kelso has been given broad authority by federal courts to fix the nation's largest state prison system's medical and mental health care, treatment so poor it has been ruled unconstitutional.

Kelso and the Legislature, however, have been unable to agree on where the funding to fix it should come from. The state Senate has blocked borrowing that Kelso says he needs to fix medical care for the state's more than 170,000 prisoners.

If the receiver doesn't get his way, a judge could order the money taken directly from the state treasury.

To avoid that, Kelso wants the governor's office to bypass the Legislature and sign a contract authorizing up to $7 billion for the medical care expansion. The money would go toward seven health care centers that would house 10,000 inmates in need of medical attention and mental health treatment.

Weiss pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in April as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Prosecutors had asked for a 33-month sentence. Weiss and his attorneys had sought a reduced sentence, citing his age and contributions inside and outside courtrooms.

Authorities said the law firm made about $250 million over two decades by filing legal actions on behalf of professional plaintiffs who received $11.3 million in kickbacks.

The firm dominated the industry in securities class-action lawsuits, which involve shareholders who claim they suffered losses because executives misled them about a company's financial condition.

The kickback scheme allowed attorneys at the firm then known as Milberg Weiss to be among the first to file litigation and secure the lucrative position as lead plaintiffs' counsel, according to court documents.

The lawsuits targeted companies such as AT&T Inc., Lucent, WorldCom, Microsoft Corp. and Prudential Insurance.

A seven-year investigation has resulted in guilty pleas by three of Weiss' former partners.

Two defendants remain in the case -- the firm itself, now known as Milberg LLP, and attorney Paul T. Selzer. Trials for those defendants are scheduled in August.

Judge Walter called the kickback scheme "extremely serious" because attorneys such as Weiss had not disclosed to judges handling class-action cases that the lead plaintiffs were paid for their involvement.

Sanchez admitted he used his patrol vehicle on six separate occasions to transport marijuana in the area around Nogales, in southern Arizona on the border with Mexico, and to accepting $45,000 in bribes.

The agent also pleaded guilty to worker's compensation fraud charges relating to an injury he received in a vehicle accident while on duty.

Sentencing in the case was set for Aug 13. Sanchez faces a fine of up to $4 million and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Southern Arizona is the busiest corridor for marijuana smuggling on the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border.

Last year, Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector seized some 440 tons (tonnes) of the drug, which is moved over the border by smugglers in trucks, on horseback and on foot in improvised backpacks.

Judith Leekin agreed to forfeit the subsidy money as she pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges Tuesday. She did not make any admissions in a separate abuse case in Florida.

She is accused of beating and starving the children in her Florida home. They moved to that state in 1998.

The 63-year-old Leekin also admitted she sent officials a phony report card documenting a child's progress.  She could face up to eight years in prison on the federal mail and wire fraud charges.

Authorities say 40-year-old Michael Arthur Howell (HOW'-el) of Indian Trail is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Sallie Rohrbach (RAW'-bak). Howell's initial court appearance will be held Monday afternoon in Superior Court in Charlotte.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police continue to look for Rohrbach's body.

Ronhrbach is a Department of Insurance investigator who traveled to Charlotte early last week to audit Howell's Dilworth Insurance Agency. When family and co-workers didn't hear from her by Friday, they called police.

Authorities say Rohrbach's slaying was connected to her duties as an auditor, and that evidence was found in both her car and Howell's vehicle.