Guilty plea in check scheme

LINCOLN (AP) -- A 49-year-old North Platte woman has pleaded guilty to helping run a counterfeit check-cashing scheme.

At a Monday hearing in a U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Fredrecia Eyten admitted to defrauding victims of nearly $14,000.

Prosecutors say Eyten received counterfeit checks and money orders from Dec. 1, 2005, to July 30, 2008, that she forwarded to sellers around the United States. The checks and orders were for more than the purchase price of goods she was buying, so the sellers would refund the overage.

Eyten would keep some of the refund money and forward the rest to people she believed to be Nigerians.

At sentencing Jan. 21, she faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.