CHICAGO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A deputy U.S. marshal is accused of violating his duty to protect a witness in federal custody after he allegedly leaked information to organized criminals.
John Thomas Ambrose, 38, was charged Thursday in Chicago for allegedly compromising the status of cooperating witness Nicholas Calabrese, who agreed in 2002 to provide authorities with information about 38 murders.
The information Ambrose allegedly provided wound up in the hands of the defendants in two of the trials for those murders, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday. The FBI filed a criminal complaint after recording phone conversations between the defendants and their associates.
There is no evidence that Ambrose received any money for providing the information and Calabrese was not harmed while in Ambrose's custody, the Sun-Times reported. Ambrose is the son of Chicago police officer Thomas Ambrose, who died in prison after being convicted of taking bribes, WMAQ-TV reported Friday.
If convicted, Ambrose faces 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, the Chicago Tribune reported.
