The four defendants who were arrested in January in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in the Hale Boggs federal complex in New Orleans pleaded guilty Wednesday morning in federal court to entering real property belonging to the United States under false pretenses. Magistrate Judge Daniel Knowles III sentenced Stan Dai, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan each to two years probation, a fine of $1,500 and 75 hours of community service during their first year of probation. James O'Keefe, as leader of the group and famous for posing as a pimp in ACORN office videos, received three years of probation, a fine of $1,500 and 100 hours of community service. Each of the defendants made a statement to the court. They said they did not intend to commit a crime They also apologized for the inconvenience they caused security workers at the federal building. O'Keefe said “I take full responsibility for our decision to visit Sen. Landrieu's office.” Referring to their decision to pose as telephone workers in order to investigate complaints that office staff members allegedly ignored constituents' phone calls, he said “I should have used other means.” The judge repeatedly told the defendants that, as journalists, they needed to learn “where to draw a line” in their investigative methods. added by: Stoneyroad
