Jon Latorella, 48, of Marblehead, the former chief executive officer of LocatePlus, was charged along with former LocatePlus Chief Financial Officer James Fields of Brookline with setting up sham corporations that they then claimed to be customers of their business, a Cummings Center-based information broker.
Federal prosecutors say the fictitious companies, including one that was set up under the name of a Marblehead man who drowned in 1985, were reported to have contracts with LocatePlus worth millions of dollars. Prosecutors say those contracts would be touted in press releases with the aim of driving up stock prices.
Latorella was set to stand trial yesterday in U.S. District Court but, according to court documents, entered into a plea agreement dated Sunday.