ST. LOUIS (AP) — A 28-year-old St. Louis County woman has admitted to participating in a romance scam that cost middle-age and elderly woman thousands of dollars. Trenice Hassel, of St. Louis County, pleaded guilty Wednesday to making false statements to a federal agency. She admitted that she persuaded another woman to open a P.O. box in Berkeley that was used in the scam. Prosecutors say the victims were duped into sending valuable items to the box, which they believed was used by someone who was a real estate agent or a diplomat’s secretary. Some of the money was instead sent to Nigeria.