Mealey's (October 31, 2017, 11:12 AM EDT) -- MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge on Oct. 30 denied a request by an attorney to withdraw his guilty plea to defrauding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after excluding his accounting expert based on lack of qualifications, unreliable methodology and unhelpful opinions (United States of America v. Christopher Bernard Pitts, No. 2:16-cr-00023, M.D. Ala., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 178945)....