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PERRYVILLE, Mo. (AP) - A Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for a sweepstakes scam that cost an eastern Missouri couple more than $250,000.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced Thursday that Patrick Percival Wilson pleaded guilty to two felony counts of exploitation of the elderly, one count of stealing by deceit and one count of unlawful merchandising practices. The attorney general's office was appointed special prosecutor in the case.

Koster says an elderly couple from Perryville was scammed into believing they won a sweepstakes of $85 million. Wilson and his colleagues convinced the couple to send money to pay taxes and fees for their winnings.

Wilson told authorities that he received at least $67,000 of the money. The rest was sent to Jamaica.

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) - Northwest Missouri State says it plans to close what is commonly known as its Home Economics department after the spring semester.

The university says the Department of Family & Consumer Sciences department is the victim of budget cuts. The department has been an academic division at the university in Maryville since 1908, although the name changed several times.

Courses teaching skills such as merchandising, child and family studies, nutrition and diet will be taught in other departments.

The Maryville Daily Forum reports (http://bit.ly/13IBK9e ) only three of the six full-time staff members and one part-time employee will remain after this year.

Child and family studies is being downgraded to a minor, while merchandising will no longer be a degree program.

A banquet celebrating the department will be held next Tuesday.

In an effort to clear his name, Ellisville's embattled mayor, Adam Paul has taken a lie detector test, even though the city council has dropped charges of drinking on the job and swearing. Paul says, "I've got thick skin...I can take political allegations, that's fine. But when you affect my livelihood that's a big problem for me and I have to vindicate myself."

The Mayor's attorney Chet Pleban says although the polygraph test is inadmissible in court he tells KTRS' McGraw Milhaven this was the Mayor's only recourse since he no longer has a vote on the council.

Pleban says, "He answered in the negative he had not had any alcoholic beverages under those circumstances and the polygraph examiner determined he was truthful in his response. You can't put the smoke back in the bag last night they (city council) said we're not going to go forward with this drinking allegation well, it's out there. Adam Paul has to live and work in the St Louis area and live in the city of Ellisville and this is the only way right now to clear his name.""

Paul has repeatedly refuted the drinking and swearing charges saying they stem from his disagreements with the city council over a controversial Walmart TIF.