Plea entered by violin seller

A man who sold millions of dollars worth of supposedly rare stringed instruments to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra -- some of which have had their authenticity questioned -- pleaded guilty in an unrelated tax fraud case.

In a deal with the government, Herbert Axelrod pleaded guilty in Trenton, N.J. Wednesday to aiding and abetting the filing of a false tax return for a former employee, and federal authorities agreed to drop charges that he conspired to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

Axelrod, 77, who made his fortune publishing books on animals, faces up to three years at sentencing March 14.

In an April indictment, he was accused of depositing $775,000 for the former employee into Swiss bank accounts to allegedly hide the money from the government. Axelrod fled the country soon after but was arrested in Berlin in June, and extradited to the United States last month.

In 2003, Axelrod made headlines by selling a collection of rare instruments to the orchestra for $17 million, claiming the 30 violins, violas and cellos were worth a total of $49 million. Since then, several experts have questioned their value, and said some of them were fakes.