Church agent accused of $2 million scam

NEW YORK - A top purchasing agent for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York was indicted along with his wife and two others on federal charges of pocketing $2 million while buying food products from lettuce to pancakes.

The indictment said the four marked up prices by as much as 138 percent on the items for more than 1,000 churches, schools and other institutions, and also required numerous vendors to pay money, supposedly as commissions, on their orders.

Vincent J. Heintz was general manager of Institutional Commodity Service from 1992 until March 2004, overseeing all aspects of the central purchasing service's day-to-day operation, said the indictment, handed up Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Charges included mail fraud, conspiracy, tax fraud conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of justice. If convicted, each defendant could face up to 20 years in prison on the mail fraud charges alone.

FLORIDA

Judge delays hearing

al-Qaida suspect's plea

MIAMI - Former ''enemy combatant'' Jose Padilla returned to court Friday, a day after his transfer from military to civilian custody, but a judge agreed to postpone hearing his plea and deciding whether he should be granted bail.

Padilla's lawyers had asked for the delay, saying they needed more time to sort through the complex case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Garber set a new hearing for Thursday. Prosecutors want Garber to deny bail for Padilla, 35, who was taken from a South Carolina brig and flown to Miami on Thursday after three years in military custody.

CALIFORNIA

Homeland chief vows

tighter border security

SAN DIEGO - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has declared a crackdown on immigrant smugglers at two California border crossings from Tijuana, Mexico.

Chertoff promised more prosecutions of smugglers who tried to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa crossings in San Diego, as well as more jail space to hold them.

In a potentially controversial twist, Chertoff said Thursday that state and local officials would participate in the crackdown.

Proponents of tougher enforcement have long advocated a larger role for local law enforcement, but critics say local agencies should stick to fighting crime, not enforcing immigration laws.

Border Patrol agents thwarted 60,000 attempted illegal crossings at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa last year.

The federal government has also increased border enforcement in Arizona, which has surpassed California as the nation's busiest corridor for illegal immigrants.