In the know

By Times Staff Writer
Published February 12, 2008

DADE CITY

Ex-prof hopes to avoid prison with plea deal

Barbara Lippincott, the former University of Tampa professor accused of stealing more than $100,000 from a dog club, plans to plead to grand theft charges in hopes of avoiding prison and a felony criminal record. Her attorney, Tim Owens, told a judge Monday that Lippincott will pay back the money on a payment plan - which she proposed to do before authorities charged her with a crime. When she was arrested in August, she told investigators she took the money to feed an online gambling addiction, according to the Sheriff's Office. "Basically, she got in over her head," Owens said Monday. Lippincott, 55, was fired from UT after her arrest and is now in bankruptcy, Owens said. According to records, she and her husband, Charles, lost their Wesley Chapel home to foreclosure last year. Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa reset her plea hearing until March because prosecutors did not formally agree to Owens' proposal of 15 years probation - meaning the judge could impose a harsher sentence.

ZEPHYRHILLS

Motorcycle crash leaves one dead

One person was killed in a traffic crash involving a motorcycle on Old Lakeland Highway near Lumberton about 5:15 p.m. Monday, officials said. The identities of the people involved and details of the crash were not immediately released.

[Last modified February 11, 2008, 22:11:28]