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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap12-09-030633.asp?t=apnew&vts=12920040437<http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap12-09-030633.asp?t=apnew&vts=12920040437>

 

Reporter faces prison for refusing to identify source who leaked tape

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Dec. 9 - Three years after airing a secret FBI videotape 
showing a city official taking a bribe, television reporter Jim Taricani 
faces up to six months in prison for refusing to identify who illegally 
leaked him the tape. 

 

Taricani was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in federal court, after being 
found guilty last month of criminal contempt. His source, who was identified 
in court papers last week, was asked to testify at the hearing. <>


Taricani has asked U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres for less than 30 days of 
home confinement because of health concerns. He has a transplanted heart. 


The FBI tape, which showed former mayoral aide Frank Corrente taking a $1,000 
bribe, was part of a corruption probe that ultimately sent city officials, 
including former Mayor Vincent ''Buddy'' Cianci to federal prison.


Less than a week after Taricani was convicted, Providence lawyer Joseph 
Bevilacqua Jr. came forward and admitted he leaked the tape. Bevilacqua was 
the lawyer for former city tax official Joseph Pannone, who pleaded guilty in 
the corruption scandal. 


Bevilacqua told prosecutors he never required Taricani to withhold his 
identity and that Taricani asked him not to come forward. 


Taricani said that is a lie, explaining that Bevilacqua repeatedly insisted 
that his identity be kept confidential in numerous conversations during the 
last three years - and as recently as the day Taricani stood trial for 
contempt. 


Special prosecutor Marc DeSisto received permission from the court to call 
Bevilacqua to testify at Thursday's sentencing hearing to determine if his 
admission that he leaked the tape, and other testimony he gave under oath, 
should be factors in the reporter's sentencing. 


Bevilacqua's attorney, Thomas Tarro, said he expects Bevilacqua to face some 
charge or disciplinary action for releasing the tape. 

 

(MY NOTE : was the tape made for blackmail purposes to begin with ??)


Around the nation, several reporters face possible fines or jail, including 
in cases of the leaked identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame and a lawsuit 
against the government by nuclear physicist Wen Ho Lee. Taricani would be the 
first to be sentenced to serve time. 



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