02:47 PM EST on Wednesday, December 8, 2004

By JACK PERRY
projo.com staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- Claiming that Channel 10 reporter Jim Taricani cost the government more than $100,000 by refusing to identify the source of a secret Plunder Dome videotape, a special prosecutor has asked a judge to order the newsman to repay the government.

Special prosecutor Marc DeSisto, appointed to find out who gave Taricani the tape in violation of a court order, claims that nearly 600 hours of investigation have been devoted to uncovering the source since Taricani refused to comply with an October 2003 court order.

Taricani declined to identify his source, saying he promised confidentiality, and was found guilty of criminal contempt of court Nov. 18. Due to be sentenced tomorrow in U.S. District Court, he faces up to six months in prison and the possiblity of paying thousands of dollars of restitution.

In papers placed in the court file today, DeSisto that "the government has been directly and proximately harmed as a result of Mr. Taricani's willful failure to abide by the order of this court compelling him to respond to the special prosecutor's questions."

"This harm is reflected by the extensive delay and additional investigation that followed Mr. Taricani's refusal..." DeSisto wrote.

At rates ranging from $125 to $200 per hour, DeSisto and those working for him have spent nearly 600 hours on the case since Taricani's refusal to cooperate, according to the court papers.

DeSisto filed the papers in response to a request by U.S. District Court Chief Justice Ernest C. Torres, who last week asked both sides to explain whether Taricani should be responsible for the government's expenses.

Journal file photo

Special prosecutor Marc DeSisto

In court papers filed yesterday, lawyers for Taricani have said no, arguing that restitution was unlawful and unwarranted in such a case. They argued, among other things, that the government voluntarily incurred the expenses by investigating the leak. They also argued that because Taricani was convicted of a misdemeanor, restitution could only be ordered in place of -- not in addition to -- any other punishment.

DeSisto argues that the law allows the court to order restitution to victims and that a previous case held that the government could be considered a victim "when it has passively suffered harm resulting directly from the defendant's criminal conduct, as from fraud or embezzlement."

He asks Torres to order that Taricani pay whatever restitution, legal fees and costs he deems appropriate.

The tape, part of the investigation into corruption in Providence City Hall under former Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., was given to Taricani in violation of a judge's order, preventing anyone from the defense or the prosecution teams from disseminating the evidence generated during the investigation.

Channel 10 broadcast the videotape on Feb. 1, 2001, two months before Cianci's indictment. It showed former top Cianci aide Frank Corrente accepting a bribe from an FBI informant posing as a corrupt businessman.

Torres appointed DeSisto as a special prosecutor in May 2001 to uncover the leak. DeSisto has spent more than three years trying to find the source. He questioned about 14 possible sources before turning to Taricani, who refused to talk, saying the source requested confidentiality.

In a surprising development, DeSisto was able to solve his case just days after Taricani had been convicted of criminal contempt. The special prosecutor identified the source in court papers filed Dec. 1 as Joseph A. Bevilacqua Jr., a Providence attorney who had defended one of the Plunder Dome defendants.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Edward Fitzpatrick.