Guilty Plea in Stalking of Rodman

An Illinois woman accused of stalking basketball star Dennis Rodman pleaded guilty Friday to 10 misdemeanor counts of making annoying phone calls, and more serious charges against her were dismissed.

Felony charges of making terrorist threats and electronic stalking were dropped in exchange for the guilty pleas at Orange County Superior Court’s Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. Judge Susanne Shaw sentenced Marie Boguszewski, 36, of Bradley, Ill., to one year in jail with three years’ probation and ordered her to stay at least 500 yards away from Rodman, his ex-wife, Carmen Electra, and three of the athlete’s former publicists.

Boguszewski has already served 325 days in jail awaiting trial and will be released in about a month, Orange County Assistant Dist. Atty. Tori Richards said. The felony charges that were dismissed could have resulted in a five-year sentence.

The case stemmed from phone calls and e-mail between Sept. 14, 1998, and March 1 this year, when the Orange County charges were filed. At the time Boguszewski was in custody in Illinois in connection with another case.

Boguszewski was accused of e-mailing and calling the office of Rodman’s former agent, Dwight Manley Inc. of Newport Beach, hundreds of times to request a date with Rodman. When she learned the messages were not forwarded to Rodman, prosecutors said, she threatened to kill three agency employees.

Before that, the prosecutors said, Boguszewski tried unsuccessfully to meet Rodman when he played for the Chicago Bulls, attending games and a book signing and turning up at a restaurant where he was celebrating a birthday.