Deputy US marshal guilty of leaking secrets to mob

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Source: Associated Press

CHICAGO – A deputy U.S. marshal was convicted Tuesday of violating the secrecy of the federal government's witness protection program by leaking information about a key witness cooperating in a Chicago mob investigation.

Deputy marshal John T. Ambrose, 42, stared straight ahead as jurors returned the verdict after almost three days of deliberation. He was acquitted of two charges of lying to federal agents, and sentencing was set for Sept. 9.
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Ambrose, a veteran fugitive hunter with a sterling record until now, is the only person in the 39-year history of the ultrasecret Witness Security Program to deliberately violate its security safeguards.
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Lipuma argued Ambrose was an innocent man who may have "shot his mouth off" in boasting about his job to a family friend but never betrayed his oath as a lawman. Prosecutors say the person Ambrose told was a former police officer with known mob ties.

FBI agents first realized there was a leak in the program when they heard two mobsters in a prison visitors room talking about a mole in federal law enforcement.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_on_re_us/us_mob_trial