A former associate of indicted Block 37 developer Laurence Freed faces a maximum of 78 months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges. Joseph Freed and Associates' Caroline Walters faced 30 years in prison on the charge before she pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a financial institution.

Walters and Freed were indicted in 2013, accused of not disclosing information to obtain city tax increment financing and a $150M revolving line of credit from lenders, including Bank of America and Cole Taylor Bank, related to redeveloping the Goldblatt's Building in Uptown (shown). The pair were indicted again last year related to the Streets of Woodfield mall in Schaumburg. Freed and Walters pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to Crain's.

Walter's plea means Freed will face trial alone when the case heads to court next week. [Crain's]