Jim Taricani Jailed for Refusing to Reveal Source of FBI Tape
Rhode Island TV reporter Jim Taricani was convicted of criminal contempt in November 2004 and sentenced to six months of home confinement for refusing to identify who leaked him an FBI surveillance video showing a city official accepting a bribe. The case became a landmark in the battle over reporter's privilege.
Jim Taricani, investigative reporter for NBC affiliate WJAR-TV in Providence, Rhode Island, aired an FBI surveillance tape in February 2001 showing city official Frank Corrente accepting a $1,000 bribe. Federal prosecutors sought to identify Taricani's source through a civil contempt proceeding; Taricani refused to comply, citing his obligation to protect a confidential source. After accumulating fines of $1,000 per day totaling over $85,000, U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres converted the matter to criminal contempt. On November 18, 2004, Taricani was convicted. On December 9, 2004, he was sentenced to six months home confinement — an unusually severe sanction that the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press condemned as a grave threat to press freedom. Taricani, who had received a heart transplant and was in fragile health, served the full term. His source was eventually revealed to be defense attorney Joseph Bevilacqua Jr. The case highlighted the absence of a federal shield law and the government's willingness to imprison journalists to compel source disclosure.