Defunct Pa. soft drink CEO set to plead in fraud

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The former chief executive of a defunct soft-drink maker is scheduled to change his not guilty plea to charges that he perpetrated an $806 million bank fraud then allegedly sold or tried to sell millions of dollars’ worth of gold, jewels and other valuables he allegedly bought with money stolen from the company.

The defense attorney for 50-year-old Gregory Podlucky, of Ligonier, did not immediately return a call for comment on the change of plea hearings scheduled this afternoon before a federal judge in Pittsburgh.

Other Podlucky family members and former staff of the Le-Nature’s soft drink company were charged in the scheme but they are not scheduled for hearings today. Because Podlucky has already pleaded not guilty to the charges, the hearing signals that he will plead guilty or no contest to at least some of the charges he faces.