Skip to comments.

Posted on 09/05/2001 10:01:38 AM PDT by Wallaby

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

F.B.I. Employee Admits Stealing Case Files By AL BAKER The New York Times Section B; Page 5; Column 1; Metropolitan Desk September 5, 2001, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y., Sept. 4
A former low-level security analyst with the F.B.I.'s Las Vegas office admitted today that he stole agency records that were later sold to mob figures, criminal defendants, lawyers and the targets of grand jury investigations in New York and elsewhere.

The complaint said that Mr. Hill, who had access to information regarding national security, confidential informers, witnesses and electronic surveillance, provided records "pertaining to organized-crime investigations, white-collar investigations and investigations involving international alien-smuggling."

Less than three months after his arrest, the analayst, James J. Hill, pleaded guilty in Federal District Court to four separate counts: conspiracy to steal Federal Bureau of Investigation records, theft of records, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice, said Stephen C. King, an assistant United States attorney. The documents involved cases ranging broadly from mortgage fraud to marijuana trafficking and prostitution.

As part of his plea, Mr. Hill, 51, told Judge Denis R. Hurley that he had used computers in the Las Vegas F.B.I. office to steal the documents and that he began selling them in 1999 to a former F.B.I. agent, Michael Levin, who was working as a private investigator in Las Vegas.

According to investigators, Mr. Levin, in turn, sold the documents to others. Mr. Hill said during his plea that at first he had provided Mr. Levin with license plate numbers and addresses of people connected with investigations, but that he had later provided what are called 302's, which are reports on the status of cases. He was paid about $25,000 for the documents, the F.B.I. has said, though it has not released details of the transactions.

"I took the documents belonging to the F.B.I. without permission," Mr. Hill said in a subdued voice as he entered his plea. "I knew that what I was doing was wrong and illegal. I am truly sorry for what I did."

Mr. Hill faces up to 30 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 7, though Mr. King said a sentence of about seven years was more likely. He also could be fined as much as $1 million, Mr. King said.

Mr. Hill's arrest on June 14 followed a series of embarrassments for the F.B.I., including the February arrest of a counterintelligence agent, Robert Hanssen, who in July pleaded guilty to charges that he had spied for Moscow since 1985.

Mr. Hill's lawyer, Valerie Amsterdam, said in court that while what her client had done was "stupid and wrong and criminal and potentially dangerous," he was a hard-working family man and an obscure if disgruntled employee whose acts did not suggest wider corruption.

Greg Rice, a special agent in the Las Vegas division of the F.B.I., echoed Ms. Amsterdam's assessment.

"This is an unfortunate incident and does not reflect on the integrity of the F.B.I. as an organization, or its employees." Mr. Rice said.

Mr. Levin pleaded guilty in June to four counts that were identical to the ones Mr. Hill pleaded guilty to. Mr. Levin is awaiting sentencing, Mr. King said. Eight others have been arrested in the investigation, which is still in progress, he said.

Mr. King would not say how much the leaked documents may have damaged criminal cases and grand jury investigations , which included ones in New York City, on Long Island, in Las Vegas and elsewhere.

According to charges filed in June against Mr. Hill, documents he stole were sold for $4,000 in Oyster Bay, in Nassau County, to an unnamed defendant charged in the Eastern District. The complaint said that Mr. Hill, who had access to information regarding national security, confidential informers, witnesses and electronic surveillance, provided records "pertaining to organized-crime investigations, white-collar investigations and investigations involving international alien-smuggling."

Mr. Hill said in court that at first he was unaware that Mr. Levin was selling the documents to others. But he admitted that after he became aware of that fact, he continued his activities. "By then I was so far in the hole, I didn't know what to do," he said.

Mr. Hill said of Mr. Levin, "I was hoping he would go away like a bad dream."

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.