Pearlman To Plead Guilty

Lou Pearlman, the boy-band Svengali who was indicted in June on charges of defrauding several banks of more than $100 million, will plead guilty March 6th to "unspecified criminal charges" in Orlando, Fla., according to the Orlando Sentinel.

He has been formally charged with three counts of bank fraud and single counts of mail and wire fraud.

Attorneys for Pearlman filed a notice announcing a change of plea hearing, according to the newspaper.

"He’s taking responsibility for his involvement in it as the main person," Pearlman acquaintance Dave Hedrick told the Sentinel after visiting the onetime impresario in jail. "He’s relieved that it’s coming to an end."

Pearlman has been held without bail at the Orange County Jail since being remanded by Indonesian authorities in June. Having fled the U.S. just before his homes and businesses were raided by the FBI in February 2007, he was nabbed in Bali and transferred to Guam for the trip back to Florida.

A task force of agents from the FBI, IRS, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Florida Office of Financial Regulation has been poring over records from Pearlman’s businesses, which have been forced into bankruptcy and liquidated.

Pearlman rose to music industry prominence promoting Backstreet Boys and ‘Nsync during their late-’90s heyday, among others.