Rhode Island television reporter Jim Taricani convicted of criminal contempt for protecting source of sealed FBI tape
On November 18, 2004, U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres convicted WJAR-TV (NBC affiliate, Providence) reporter Jim Taricani of criminal contempt for refusing to identify the source who gave him a sealed FBI surveillance tape. Taricani was sentenced December 9, 2004 to six months of home confinement — the first U.S. journalist convicted of criminal contempt for source protection since at least the 1970s.
Dates: Tape aired February 2001; civil contempt fines 2001–2004 (~$85,000+); criminal contempt conviction November 18, 2004; sentenced December 9, 2004. Individuals and organizations: Jim Taricani (WJAR-TV NBC Providence); U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres; USAO District of Rhode Island; source Joseph Bevilacqua (attorney; later self-identified and disbarred). What happened: Taricani aired portions of a sealed FBI surveillance tape showing a Providence mayoral aide accepting a bribe, in connection with the federal corruption case against Mayor Buddy Cianci's associates (United States v. Cianci). Judge Torres ordered Taricani to identify his source; Taricani refused. The First Circuit affirmed enforcement (In re Special Proceedings, 373 F.3d 37 (1st Cir. 2004)). After source Joseph Bevilacqua self-identified, the government pursued criminal contempt for Taricani's prior defiance. Torres convicted and sentenced him to six months home confinement (declining prison in part because of Taricani's serious heart condition). Legal authority used: Civil contempt fines; criminal contempt under 18 U.S.C. § 401. Outcome: Criminal contempt conviction. First such conviction of a U.S. journalist for source protection since at least the 1970s. Why it matters: Confidential source protection was directly at issue. The criminal contempt enforcement, distinct from civil fines or jail-pending-purge, created a more punitive precedent for journalists. Case prompted renewed calls for a federal shield law.