James Gregson, 39, pleaded guilty today to two counts of bankruptcy fraud for hiding his annual winnings from two $1-million scratch tickets from trustees handling his bankruptcy - and lying in court about how he came by to have the two tickets, the US Attorney's office reports.

According to a federal "information" in his case, Gregson spent $400,000 - including $150,000 from a client trust fund - to buy the two tickets from the original winners in 2002 and 2003. That way, they'd get money up front and he'd get guaranteed payments of $70,000 for at least 13 years.

Gregson filed for bankruptcy in 2005, failed to note the annual lottery income. But then the trustee handling his bankruptcy got a tip about the winnings. When Gregson was asked in court about them, he said his wife had bought the tickets, using money from his parents.

Also, in 2003, he claimed no "total taxable income" on his federal tax return, when, in fact, he had income of more than $450,000, the feds say.

The lying and covering up could get Gregson up to five years in the federal pen when he's sentenced in January, the US Attorney's office says.

Gregson lost his Massachusetts law license in 2008.

Complete information.

In the Phoenix, Chris Faraone writes:

The recent murders in Mattapan only hint at the problems that fester on and around Blue Hill Avenue

Still, there are a few bright spots, he writes, starting with bustling Mattapan Square.

Five Lexington firefighters who say they were incorrectly accused of shirking their responsibility to attend EMT re-training classes want the state to strike their names from its records on the scandal.

The five were among the first investigated by the state in an investigation into a scandal involving falsified certifications for EMT retraining. The Lexington firefighter in charge of retraining was charged with filling out certifications for the five and more than 30 other EMTs in the area.

But in a suit filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, firefighters Joseph Foley, John Ritchie, George-Arthur Robinson, Mark Schofield and Kenneth Tremblay said they did nothing to warrant having their pay cut - and their names dragged through the mud.

All five said they missed a recertification class in March because of illness injury or, in one case, because the firefighter was in Pennsylvania getting advanced firefighting training. In fact, they say they didn't even know the class had been held, that they were surprised to get recertification cards, and that they then asked for - and took - actual retraining classes.

The five charge that in addition to the loss of pay from being unable to work as EMTs over part of the summer:

The actions of the Defendants ... constitute a deprivation of Plaintiffs' liberty interests, by issuing complaints that included false accusations of wrongdoing by the Plaintiffs, which accusations were publicized their communities and thereby caused irreparable harm to their reputations, without providing notice of the allegations against them or the opportunity to be heard in their own defense, all in violation of substantive Due Process as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Complete complaint.

Look for the Dems to crow that the state's unemployment rate is down and the Republicans to thunder about how the number of jobless increased. The Globe attempts to explain how that could happen; the Herald gleefully predicts the crushing job-loss news will crush Deval Patrick's chances.

Associated Press reports the four candidates for governor split on the death penalty in their debate somewhere west of Worcester last night. Globe: Patrick is one happy warrior.

The Herald really can't stand Barney Frank: It calls him a lying liar and lovingly notes that Sean Bielat is a Democrat whose party left him.

The Herald also, finally, notes the Jeff Perry saga: GOP rallies around Jeff Perry.

Punditocracy: Scot Lehigh is disappointed in vague Carla Howell and says Question 3, which would cut the state sales tax by more than half, goes too far. Brian McGrory gets his Andy Rooney on and complains about campaign ads on TV. The Herald's token Republican operative doesn't like Tim Cahill.