Woman faces prison in LA celebrity burglary ring

LOS ANGELES — A woman accused of being one of the ringleaders of a group of young adults who broke into celebrities' homes faces up to four years in prison after pleading no contest Friday to burglarizing the home of reality starlet Audrina Patridge.

Rachel Lee, 21, made the plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors, who will drop charges of accepting stolen property and engaging in a conspiracy, district attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison said.

Authorities have said Lee helped orchestrate break-ins at the homes of stars such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. Lee was initially charged with a burglary at Lohan's home, but a judge dropped that count last year.

Lee's attorney, Peter Korn, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Lee is the second member of the so-called "Bling Ring" to enter pleas in the string of burglaries. Alexis Neiers, whose case was featured on an E! Entertainment Television series about her, last year pleaded no contest to burglarizing Orlando Bloom's home.

Prosecutors estimate the group stole more than $3 million in jewelry, designer clothes and accessories from the stars' homes, much of which has never been recovered.

Lee will be sentenced on Oct. 21.

The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty. That group includes Nicholas Prugo, another alleged mastermind of the burglaries, who has argued for leniency because he spoke to detectives and got some of the stars' property returned.