Home Confinement for Journalist

A veteran television reporter was sentenced Thursday to six months’ home confinement for refusing to disclose who had provided him with an FBI videotape showing a local politician taking a bribe.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres said the only reason he was not sending Jim Taricani, 55, to prison was that the journalist had serious health problems, including a severely compromised immune system after a 1996 heart transplant.

“I am very saddened and disappointed by what has happened in this case,” Torres said, adding that he disliked sentencing a reporter he had “admired and respected for many years.”

But, the judge said, “no one is above the law. Not presidents, not reporters. Like all citizens, the reporter must obey what the Constitution and the laws say, and not what they think they should say.”

Taricani was forbidden to discuss his sentence by Torres, who also imposed tight restrictions so that the home confinement would mimic prison time.

The daylong hearing here took place as federal appeals court judges in Washington began deliberations in another press freedom case involving reporters Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine. Both journalists refused to appear before the grand jury looking into who had leaked the identity of an undercover CIA agent in 2003.

The three-judge panel is expected to decide early next year whether Miller and Cooper can be jailed for contempt.

Taricani -- a reporter in Providence for more than 30 years -- was convicted last month of criminal contempt for refusing to disclose how he had obtained an FBI surveillance tape in 2000. The tape was made in conjunction with Operation Plunder Dome, the racketeering and corruption investigation that sent former Providence Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr. to prison for five years.

The tape obtained by Taricani showed Cianci’s top aide, Frank Corrente, accepting a $1,000 bribe.

Taricani -- lead investigative reporter for WJAR-TV, the NBC affiliate here -- broke no law in airing the tape, Torres found. But the judge said Taricani had received the tape in violation of a court order that barred attorneys, investigators and defendants from disseminating material related to Plunder Dome.

One week after Taricani’s conviction, lawyer Joseph A. Bevilacqua Jr. came forward to announce that he had given the journalist the videotape. Bevilacqua represented the city tax assessor during the scandal.

In court Thursday, Taricani and Bevilacqua presented conflicting versions of their agreement about the videotape. Taricani said that Bevilacqua had demanded complete confidentiality. The reporter said he also believed the court order did not pertain to Bevilacqua because his client had been convicted.

“He told me, ‘You can never, never tell anybody where you got the tape,’ ” Taricani said Thursday. “And I said: ‘You got my word on that.’ ”

Bevilacqua said he and Taricani had met frequently at a Starbucks or while driving around Providence to discuss the videotape. He said he gave the tape to Taricani because he liked his reporting and considered him a friend. “He said, ‘Joe, this will enhance my career and make me look good.’ ”

Bevilacqua added, “I felt in my heart I had not violated an order” -- and said he had not asked Taricani not to reveal him as the source of the videotape.

Taricani said he had heard rumors that Bevilacqua had identified himself as the source at a Providence dinner party last summer. Bevilacqua said that in an angry telephone call, Taricani had accused him of “letting the cat out of the bag.”

Taricani told the court Thursday that he was “incensed” and “insulted” after Bevilacqua told special prosecutor Marc DeSisto that he had leaked the tape to Taricani.

“I felt that was a violation of our agreement,” Taricani said. “I had kept his name secret ... and here he was, disclosing himself as my source. A promise of confidentiality in my mind was a two-way street.”

Bevilacqua said Thursday that he had used “poor judgment” in earlier testimony when he denied any connection to the videotape. Bevilacqua also faces contempt charges.

In preparing to deliver Taricani’s sentence, Torres said: “There are no heroes in this soap opera.”

Conceding that the case raised important issues, Torres said its lessons would probably not pertain to other cases involving the media. He said that this case would not have a chilling effect on other reporters seeking to use confidential sources.

“The reporter knew the information was unlawfully obtained,” Torres said. “A reporter should be chilled from violating the law in order to get a story, and from making ill-advised promises of confidentiality.”

Torres ruled that for six months, Taricani could not leave his home except for medical treatment. He said he could not have access to the Internet, and barred him from media appearances. Torres said Taricani could receive visitors between 2 and 4 p.m. and 6 and 8 p.m. each day.