Raffaello Follieri - who pleaded guilty in September to 14 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy - was sentenced in Manhattan federal court Thursday to 4%26#189; years in prison.

At the request of his attorney, Flora Edwards, the Italian-born Follieri, 30, is likely to be imprisoned either at Fort Dix, N.J., or in Otisville, N.Y. The bureau of prisons will decide the level of security under which he’ll be placed.

His next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12.

‘What I Did Was Wrong’

Through an interpreter, Follieri delivered a statement, in which he said, “The most important thing I want the court to know is I was not raised with bad values. … I started off with good intentions, determined to run an honorable business and make everyone proud of me.”

But, he admitted, “What I did was wrong and there is no point in making excuses. … I will never be able to wash away the shame. … I just hope that someday those who have been hurt by my actions will forgive me.”

He started with good intentions, said his attorney, but then he “sunk and sunk into a quagmire of his own making.”

Follieri, who conceivably could have faced up to 265 years in prison, had agreed not to appeal a sentence less than 63 months in prison.

Arrested in June

Follieri was arrested in June and, in papers filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, accused of lying to investors by claiming to be the CFO of the Vatican and using swindled funds for a trip to the Dominican Republic over New Year’s 2005-06 with his “then girlfriend” (Anne Hathaway) and another couple.

According to the complaint, Follieri also used the funds for his $37,000-a month-apartment rent, medical bills for himself and his “then girlfriend,” as well as for orthodontist bills for his father.

Follieri and Hathaway, 25, dated for four years but split in June just before his arrest. Earlier this month, as she hosted Saturday Night Live, Hathaway poked fun at the incidents, saying, “I broke up with my boyfriend, and two weeks later he was sent to prison for fraud. I mean, we’ve all been there, right, ladies?”

• Reporting by RYAN PIENCIAK

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Source:www.People.com

Moving on from jailed ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, Anne Hathaway told PEOPLE she is crushing on a new mystery man.

“This guy I know in L.A. is kind of doing it for me right now,” the actress told PEOPLE at the London premiere for her newest movie, Rachel Getting Married. “When I think of sexy, I think of him.”

“You know when sometimes you don’t know someone very well - you’ll probably never see them again - but you just meet them and you’re like ‘WOW, you really have it going on’?”

Hathaway’s due to spend time with another sexy guy - Johnny Depp - as filming starts for Tim Burton’s upcoming film, Alice in Wonderland, in which she plays the role of the White Queen.

Is she excited to work with Depp? “Uh, yeah, ya think?” Hathaway, 25, told PEOPLE. “I hope I don’t faint. I’m wearing a corset which is difficult enough, but then to have to wear a corset and be short-breathed around Johnny Depp?”

And her friends are buzzing with excitement at her upcoming costar. “I have so many people coming out of the woodwork who really have never wanted to visit me on the set before just want to kind of come and hang out,” she says. “Everyone just wants to meet Johnny.

“It might be my hardest role to date - to keep my cool.”

Meanwhile, Hathaway’s ex Follieri, who pleaded guilty last month to wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, is preparing for his Oct. 23 sentencing.

Prosecutors said Monday, the Associated Press reports, that they urged the judge not to show leniency after learning that Follieri sent the judge a photo of himself and the pope in hopes of reducing his prison sentence.

Follieri agreed to four-plus years in prison during his guilty plea but last week his lawyers requested a three-year sentence instead.

Anne Hathaway’s personal life may have bottomed out this year, but her career is soaring.

The actress, 25, has been nominated - along with her Rachel Getting Married castmates - for best ensemble performance at the upcoming Gotham Independent Film Awards.

The awards, which will take place on Dec. 2 in Manhattan, also honor Woody Allen’s film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona for its ensemble performance (including Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz) and breakthrough actor - the IFP announced Monday.

“2008 has proven to be an extremely strong year for an immensely diverse group of filmmakers tackling a range of subjects and forms in new and dynamic ways,” Executive Director Michelle Byrd said.

Leading the nominations was Ballast, a Sundance Film Festival favorite about how one man’s suicide affects three different people.

This year’s nominees for breakout actor, a category whose previous winners include Ellen Page and Amy Adams, include Rosemary DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married), Rebecca Hall (Vicki Cristina Barcelona) and Melissa Leo (Frozen River).

David Letterman quizzed Anne Hathaway about the arrest of ex-boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, as the visibly uncomfortable actress called her situation “pretty unusual.”

“Did you have any hints that there was a problem?” Letterman asked her.

“I don’t want to go into the specifics,” said Hathaway, who appeared on the Late Show Tuesday night to promote her film Rachel Getting Married, “but I will say that you do have to give me credit because as far as relationships crashing and burning goes, c’mon, I did pretty great. I mean, scorched that earth!”

Pressed further by Letterman if Follieri was in jail, Hathaway asked him, “Do you want to know his shoe size, too?”

The Devil Wears Prada star revealed that her relationship had ended months before Follieri pleaded guilty Sept. 10 to 14 counts of wire fraud, money laundering charges and conspiracy.

However, the actress, 25, is moving on from her breakup by shedding her old self.

“I quit smoking,” Hathaway said. “I quit for a while and then it was a stressful summer and started smoking again. But I just quit.”

Hathaway says her public breakup was the perfect time to make other changes in her life. “I quit drinking and I also gave up meat and fish and fun,” she said.

Despite all the heartache, Hathaway assures she is doing fine. “I’m very happy. I’m in a good place.”

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After her breakup with boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, Anne Hathaway is moving on with a fresh perspective and a positive attitude.

“Everything that has happened to me, good and bad, I feel has happened for a reason,” Hathaway told reporters at the Sept. 15 press day for her new film, the family drama Rachel Getting Married.

Adds Hathaway, “I’ve been made stronger from the good stuff and much, much stronger from the bad stuff.”

In the aftermath, Hathaway told W magazine in its October issue that she spent a week holed up in a friend’s house “in shock” before throwing herself into promoting Get Smart.

“I don’t want to put anything in a drawer but I do want to let things rest and heal,” Hathaway says.

The actress is currently getting praise for her turn as an unhinged sister of the bride in Rachel Getting Married, which is already garnering Oscar buzz for The Devil Wears Prada star.

Having been through her share of ups and downs lately, Hathaway has been careful to keep that type of talk in perspective.

“I’ve never done anything that warranted that before or garnered it so I’m enjoying having my work enjoyed,” she says. “Ultimately the buzz doesn’t matter until the nominations come out so I’m not really thinking about too much.”

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• Anne’s prince turns out to be a ‘conman’!
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Though he doesn’t face sentencing until Oct. 3 after pleading guilty Wednesday to 14 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, Raffaello Follieri has already begun meeting terms of his plea-bargain agreement.

Besides paying the federal government $2.4 million he made attracting investors to real-estate ventures, Follieri, 30, is also surrendering 12 watches - among them, a Rolex, a Cartier, a Harrods, a Donald Trump and three Omegas - and nine pieces of jewelry, reports The New York Times. The jewelry is believed to have belonged to Follieri’s former girlfriend, Anne Hathaway.

Those pieces reportedly include a gold-colored ring with light blue-green stone, a pair of silver earrings and blue and clear stones, a 16-inch five-strand necklace with pearl beads, and a 32-inch gold-colored chain with a red-brown stone and gold-colored tassel.

In addition, reports the New York Post, Follieri must forfeit some precious metals and jewelry he stored in the Bronx, as well as a Cartier figurine in a box and a Tiffany clock.

“He’s a con artist,” social acquaintance Paolo Zampolli, who works in real estate development, tells The Times. “He deserves what he gets.”

Hathaway, who admitted in a recent interview her world fell apart with Follieri’s downfall, has not been quoted as commenting since he made his guilty pleas Wednesday.

Anne Hathaway broke off her relationship with Italian businessman Rafaello Follieri just hours before his arrest on charges of wire fraud and money laundering, according to a report in the October issue of Vanity Fair.

“You were the love of my life,” she told Follieri by phone on June 23, according to a friend who heard the conversation, Vanity Fair reports. “I’ll always love you. You know that, baby.” Later that day, Follieri was arrested and accused by federal prosecutors of defrauding investors of millions through claims he had connections with the Vatican.

Hathaway’s father, Jerry, had a private investigator friend check out Follieri three years ago, the story claims. “I regard my involvement in the situation … as fundamentally a private matter between a daughter and her father,” Jerry told the magazine.

Follieri is currently awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, unable to pay his $21 million bail.

• RELATED ARTICLE: How Anne Hathaway Was Blinded by Love
• 2001: Anne Hathaway goes from unknown to Disney princess!

He’s only just become the official Democratic nominee, but it seems Barack Obama already has the celebrity vote sewn up.

His moving acceptance speech at Denver’s 2008 Democratic National Convention was watched by a bevy of cheering stars Thursday night.

One of the most moved? Oprah Winfrey, a longtime supporter, who told the Associated Press, “I cried my eyelashes off.”

“I think it’s the most powerful thing I have ever experienced,” added the daytime queen, comparing his words to Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream Speech.” (Fitting, then, that Obama’s prime-time speech fell on the 45th anniversary of the civil rights leader’s famous address.)

But she was not alone in her praise. Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie called the speech “amazing,” while Jessica Alba found it “incredible.”

“What I hope happens is the country doesn’t forget the jubilation and excitement that’s been generated here,” Kim told the AP. “And I hope it turns into something that changes the world.”

Warming up for Obama’s oration, will.i.am performed his single “Yes We Can” with John Legend. And as Sheryl Crow belted out “Change is Gonna Come” from the stage, Anne Hathaway and Susan Sarandon sang along in the stands.

But the real star of the night was undoubtedly Obama, who officially accepted the party’s nomination with a simple entreaty: “America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future.”

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• Anne Hathaway, singing with her Devil Wears Prada costar and pal Emily Blunt during an impromptu performance at Hollywood hot spot Green Door lounge. After spending most of the night having drinks and chatting at a table in the venue’s “library” with Blunt, friend Teresa Michalina and a group of male companions, the actress - sporting a striped white blouse, skinny jeans and heels - made her way hand-in-hand with Blunt to the jazz band. The two crooned their way through a duet, then Hathaway and Michalina played backup singer for Blunt while the audience clapped and cheered. The group finally left the near-empty venue a little after 2 a.m.

• Eva Mendes, chowing down on a healthy tofu scramble with veggie sausage and egg whites while having breakfast at Hollywood eatery Kitchen 24. The actress, who was clad in jeans and a baseball cap, chatted with a male companion as she sipped coffee.

• Brody Jenner, celebrating his 25th birthday (which is on Aug. 21) at West Hollywood lounge Coco de Ville. It looked like a scene out of The Hills as the birthday boy took shots with Doug Reinhardt and was later joined by BFF Frankie Delgado and Lauren Conrad, who arrived with new man Kyle Howard and Whitney Port. Though Conrad mingled with Brody and his friends, her focus was clearly on Howard. The pair held hands, talked closely and kissed throughout the evening. At 1 a.m., the whole crew sang “Happy Birthday” to Jenner as a huge cake with sparklers and candles appeared, and they toasted him with Dom Perignon before the party moved on to Delgado and Reinhardt’s Hollywood Hills house.

• Andre Agassi and wife Steffi Graf, arriving at the Flor de Ca%26#241;a party at East Hampton, N.Y., club Lily Pond. The couple - who had attended a benefit earlier in the night - “took one turn on the dance floor before they slipped back into their chauffeured driven car,” a source tells us.

• Leonardo DiCaprio, feasting with pals at Brand Steakhouse at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It was a guys’ night out for the actor, who dined on King crab scampi, Kobe beef carpaccio, sea bass, salmon, filet mignon and a host of sides, including lobster mashed potatoes and asparagus. After his mammoth meal, DiCaprio and his posse headed to The Bank club inside the Bellagio to work off all those calories.

• Ethan Hawke, having a family day out with wife Ryan Shawhughes and 4-week-old daughter Clementine Jane in the Hamptons. The trio stopped into Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett, N.Y., for lunch, and Clementine took to napping.

• By DAVID CAPLAN, ALEXIS CHIU, JENNIFER GARCIA, MARK GRAY and JEFFREY SLONIM

Celebrity Hot Spots.

Wednesday’s Caught in the Act >

Despite her recent break-up with her boyfriend of four years, accused conman Rafaello Follieri, Anne Hathaway still intends to date - in the future.

Regarding the rules of the game, the actress, 25, says, however, “I try not to date where I work. It makes life easier.”

Speaking to Britain’s The Independent, Hathaway says, “I don’t say no to anybody because I’d hope that people wouldn’t say no to me just because I’m an actor - but they’d have to be pretty extraordinary.”

As for the latest status on Follieri, the Italian businessman remains in prison in the U.S., awaiting trial on a dozen counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

With the brave face that Hathaway has been keeping in public, she quotes 1920’s humorist Will Rogers: “The worst thing that happens to you can be the best thing for you, if you don’t let it get the best of you.”