Samoan adoption: Utah man may change plea to guilty
Samoan adoption: Utah man may change plea to guilty
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 03/21/2008 12:33:35 AM MDT
A Utah man accused of conspiring to dupe parents in Samoa into placing their children for adoption through a Wellsville agency could be pleading guilty in the case.
Court calendars show that Dan Wakefield, 71, who formerly worked with Focus on Children, is scheduled for a change-of-plea hearing on May 15 in U.S. District Court. That typically means a defendant has reached some kind of plea agreement with prosecutors.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the case. Stephen McCaughey, Wakefield's defense attorney, could not be reached late Thursday. The agency, Wakefield and six others were charged last year with various counts of conspiracy and immigration violations.
Prosecutors say birth parents were falsely told that their children would return to them when they turned 18. The alleged conspiracy involved about 80 children. - Pamela Manson