A former executive at the New Castle Funds LLC hedge fund pleaded guilty on Wednesday to an insider trading conspiracy that also ensnared Galleon fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, but he is not cooperating with the investigation.

The executive, Mark Kurland, 61, is the eighth person to plead guilty in Manhattan federal court in the probe of illegal trading involving the earnings forecasts and mergers and acquisitions of some of America's best-known companies.

At New Castle, Kurland was a colleague of Danielle Chiesi, 44, who was indicted along with Rajaratnam last month. Rajaratnam and Chiesi have pleaded not guilty to the charges. All three were arrested on October 16 last year.

U.S. prosecutors said that recorded telephone conversations between Rajaratnam and Chiesi revealed that Rajaratnam, Kurland, Chiesi and a cooperating witness received information directly or indirectly from insiders and provided it to each other for trading purposes.

A federal judge in Ohio has ordered two years' probation for an immigration lawyer who illegally married to gain permanent U.S. residence.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost issued the sentence Friday for Lillian Asante (uh-SAN'-tay), who must return to her native Ghana.

The 38-year-old Asante and her ex-husband, Kwadwo (KWAD'-woh) Asante each pleaded guilty in September to unlawfully entering into marriages to evade U.S. immigration laws.

Prosecutors say the Asantes married in Ghana, came to the United States in 2002 to earn advanced degrees, then divorced in 2004 and married U.S. citizens to obtain green cards while continuing to live as a married couple.

Frost also sentenced 40-year-old Kwadwo Asante to two years' probation. He also must return to Ghana.