Just days after Scott Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years behind bars for perpetrating one of the worst Ponzi schemes in South Florida history, his former right-hand woman pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to the billion-dollar scam Friday.
Debra Villegas, COO of defunct lawfirm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, told a federal judge that she wanted to help her boss and friend get out of trouble with the mafia.
"Initially, he said it was a one-time thing," she told a judge after changing her plea.
Villegas, 42, turned herself into authorities in April after she was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering charges.
As part of the plea deal, Villegas forfeited a $475,000 home given to her by Rothstein and a Maserati, both of which were gifts from her former boss. The car was sold at auction for $90,000.
Villegas is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 20 and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Rothstein, 48, was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of over $1.2 billion.
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At the time of her arrest, Villegas had pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said she'd been cooperating with the government since last November, around the time Rothstein's scam imploded. Villegas gave the Feds several interviews, discussing other crimes that were committed by the now defunct lawfirm.
First a paralegal with the firm in the 1990s, Villegas rose to the prominent position of COO and became one of Rothstein's closest advisers, who he called his second-in-command.
Villegas is accused of forging legal settlement documents which Rothstein used to lure investors into his scheme. She was the first co-conspirator and only person besides Rothstein to be charged under the scheme.
