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Former DEA agent sentenced to 5 years in prison for using badge to protect drug trafficking friends
Joseph Bongiovanni abused his DEA role for 11 years to protect drug traffickers linked to Italian organized crime, receiving a five-year federal prison sentence in 2024.
- On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo sentenced Joseph Bongiovanni, former DEA agent, 61, to five years in federal prison, calling the term 'sufficient but not excessive.'
- Bongiovanni used his DEA badge to protect childhood friends who became prolific drug traffickers in Buffalo, prosecutors said his 'little dark secret' caused immeasurable damage over 11 years.
- Prosecutors said he authored bogus DEA reports, stole sensitive files, outed confidential informants, and used DEA case files and deconfliction databases to shield drug traffickers.
- A jury convicted Bongiovanni on seven of the 11 counts he faced; prosecutors sought a much longer sentence while Bongiovanni's defense attorneys argued, `He stands guilty of something he didn't do.`
- Amid a broader wave of probes into the DEA, prosecutors linked the case to at least 17 agents charged and another former agent charged last month, plus sensational probe elements involving the implicated judge.
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Total News Sources77
Leaning Left18Leaning Right7Center39Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Center
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources are Center
61% Center
L 28%
C 61%
11%
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