San Diego

Two New Jersey sweepstakes executives pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to secretly arranging for their friends and relatives to win prizes in nationwide contests sponsored by Alpha Beta supermarkets and Taco Bell restaurants.

C&K; Marketing’s president, John Edward Curtin III, and its vice president, Kevin Joseph Kissane, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a government recommendation that they receive probation instead of prison terms.

In a plea agreement, charges against two others in the case, Jerome S. Baratta and Kim Curtin, were dropped.

Baratta, a New Jersey car dealer related to Kissane, “won” $25,000 in Taco Bell’s “Wheels, Reels and Meals” contest.

Kim Curtin of South Laguna, who is Curtin’s brother, helped rig the contests in which a fifth defendant, Navy aircraft mechanic James Frederick Lee, “won” $28,500 in Alpha Beta’s “California Dreamin’ ” promotion and $25,000 in Taco Bell’s sweepstakes.

Lee, 51, of San Diego, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and had agreed to testify against the others had they gone to trial.