South Florida

‘Dateline' to Feature South Florida Murder Case Tied to Ponzi Scheme

NBC's "Dateline" Friday night will feature a story of murder and betrayal with ties to the biggest Ponzi scheme bust in South Florida history.

In a sit-down interview with "Dateline," Debra Villegas Coffey talks about the 2008 murder of best friend Melissa Lewis at the hands of Villegas' estranged husband.

Lewis was a partner at the Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, Adler. It was later revealed the firm was at the center of a $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme, which led to prison and disbarment for attorney Scott Rothstein and his two named partners.

Villegas was Rothstein's chief operating officer. She served part of a 10-year sentence for her role in the scheme.

"To this day, Scott and I never, ever had a conversation acknowledging that I was doing anything wrong," she told "Dateline."

The "Dateline" episode called "Betrayed" airs Friday night at 10 p.m. on NBC 6.

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