A former General Motors manager admits he pocketed $6.5 million in kickbacks involving the sale of hundreds of millions of pounds of aluminum worth $1 billion.

Daniel Bealko appeared before U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras (koh-KOHR'-uhs) in Chicago to plead guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion. He was in court last week after his extradition from Liechtenstein, where he was arrested last year. Before that, he was believed to have been living on the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Bealko is formerly from Clarkston, Mich. He admitted that he took the kickbacks to steer GM's sale of the aluminum to a buyer who already has pleaded guilty.

Kocoras set sentencing for Jan. 19.