U.S. to Tighten Rules on Mob Informants
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The U.S. Justice Department is issuing stricter guidelines for handling underworld informants--rules prompted by embarrassing allegations that FBI agents in Boston were overly cozy with mobsters. The guidelines, expected to be approved this week, will require department agencies to tell prosecutors when informants are suspected of committing serious crimes, U.S. Atty. Donald Stern said. The FBI’s policy has been to zealously guard informants’ identities from outside agencies. Prosecutors say James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi used the FBI’s protection to rule with terror for 30 years in the city’s underworld.
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