Almost a year of speculation involving the legal community ended on Monday when Cynthia Jaeger faced Superior Judge Henry Hight and pleaded guilty to 10 counts each of felony obstruction of justice and altering official case records.

She was sentenced to at least three years in prison and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.

Jaeger, Johnston's former assistant district attorney, was indicted last year along with court clerk Portia Snead, defense lawyers Chad

Lee, Lee Hatch, Jack McLamb and Vann Sauls on charges that they altered court records and and knowingly used illegal dismissal forms to get traffic cases against at least 36 people dropped from the court system.

Jaeger was charged with three indictments containing three felony counts (obstruction of justice) and two misdemeanor counts(failing to perform duty of office) and one presentment containing 81 misdemeanor counts (failing to perform duty of office).

According to the indictments against her, 70 dismissal forms with her signature were filed after she left her position as an assistant district attorney in September 2007. The dismissal forms were filed for clients of the four attorneys who were also indicted. Records show that Snead was indicted for deleting the attorneys names from at least

two cases from the computer system.

In a court testimony, SBI agent Randy Myers testified in a hearing that Lee, Hatch and Jaeger came up with the scheme when Jaeger put in her notice that she would be leaving district attorney's office.

All eyes have been on Jaeger since the sentencing last month of the others involved in the scam.

Lee and Hatch were given prison sentences after pleading guilty to 10 counts each of felony obstruction of justice and altering official case records, along with one count each of criminal conspiracy.

Both were ordered to surrender their law license and to pay a $10,000 fine.

McLamb was fined $1,000 and was placed on probation for three years. He was also ordered to serve three weekends in the Johnston County jail.

Sauls was sentenced to 90 days in jail, suspended to three years on probation, ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and to perform 100 hours of community service.

McLamb and Sauls were also ordered not to represent any criminal defendants while serving their three-year probation.

Snead was sentenced to 45 days in jail, suspended to 18 months unsupervised probation.