Reporter convicted of contempt faces stressful home confinement
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A television reporter convicted of criminal contempt for refusing to identify a news source avoided prison time but may find the alternative�six months of home confinement�nearly as stressful, according to federal probation officials and others.
Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres imposed the highest level of home confinement on Jim Taricani. The judge also added restrictions to make the sentence similar to being in prison.
Taricani is not allowed to go outside of his North Kingstown home�not even to his backyard. He can seek medical care, but he can�t work, use the Internet or appear on radio or television. He must wear a strap around his ankle so that his movements can be monitored.
�Home confinement is definitely not a treat,� said Barry Weiner, chief U.S. probation officer for Rhode Island. �I don�t know how many people have been trapped inside for a rainy weekend and how you feel by Sunday afternoon. Now imagine that for six months.�
Weiner said the federal government rarely places anyone on home confinement for more than six months.
�As a practical matter, six months is the maximum a person could tolerate,� Weiner told The Providence Journal in Wednesday�s editions. �It becomes extraordinarily difficult. Eventually, they break down and become distraught.�
Taricani faced up to six months in prison for refusing to say who gave him a secret FBI videotape showing a city official taking a bribe. The source, Providence lawyer Joseph Bevilacqua Jr., voluntarily came forward after Taricani�s conviction and contradicted the reporter by claiming he never asked Taricani to keep his identity secret.
Defense lawyers argued for home confinement, citing the reporter�s health following a heart transplant in 1996. Prosecutors also recommended home confinement.
Taricani has not said whether he intends to appeal the sentence.
Antonio Freitas, the Providence businessman who went undercover to shoot the FBI videotape that Taricani aired, has twice been on home confinement.
�It�s horrible,� Freitas said. �It�s a teaser. You are home, but you are still in prison.�
Given a choice between four months on home confinement or two months in prison, Freitas said, �I�d take prison. Anything to get it over with.�
Rhode Island has 215 people on home confinement, according to corrections officials.
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