Coast Guard Officer Convicted of Passing Confidential Information
February 24, 2008 - 1:29pm

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A Coast Guard officer has been convicted of three misdemeanors for passing confidential information on illegal immigration investigations to a former girlfriend.

But the U.S. District Court jury on Thursday found Petty Officer Morris Wade Hughes not guilty of a more serious felony conspiracy charge.

Hughes was indicted in December on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, unauthorized access of government computers, and unlawful disclosure of confidential information.

According to the indictment, Hughes passed information about an investigation into undocumented workers in the fishing industry to a former girlfriend whose family runs a fishing company that employed undocumented workers.

Hughes faces up to three years in prison when he's sentenced June 2.

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