Las Vegas FBI suspect arraigned in New York

Friday, July 13, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

James J. Hill, the Las Vegas FBI security analyst charged in the bureau's secrets-for-sale scandal, was arraigned today on federal charges in Long Island, N.Y.

The 51-year-old Hill, who has worked for the FBI since 1991, has been in federal custody on no bond since his June 14 arrest in Las Vegas.

An FBI complaint in New York charged him with selling confidential investigative information to Las Vegas private detective Mike Levin, a former FBI agent now cooperating in the probe into leaks at the local field office.

Hill's Las Vegas lawyer, Barry Levinson, said Thursday he has had preliminary talks with the government that could result in Hill's cooperation in the investigation, which is being spearheaded by the FBI in New York.

Levinson said he has made an offer of possible evidence Hill could provide FBI agents, but the attorney declined to discuss the offer.

"They want to talk to him," said Levinson, who previously has suggested others within the Las Vegas field office may have provided Levin with classified documents. "We're willing to cooperate in anyway we can to help out the FBI."

Levinson said he has retained well-known New York attorney Benjamin Brafman to serve as co-counsel in New York.

Brafman, listed as one of the top 10 trial lawyers in the country in the latest edition of the National Law Journal, helped obtain an acquittal March 16 for Sean "Puffy" Combs in the rap artist's well-publicized gun possession trial. Brafman teamed with celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran in that case.

The Law Journal said the 52-year-old Brafman has won about 80 percent of his cases at trial in a "jurisdiction noted for the success of prosecutors."

Mark Baker, an associate of Brafman's, represented Hill at today's arraignment, which was set for noon New York time.

Baker said in a telephone interview from New York that another hearing for a status check in the case was set for next month and that defense lawyers plan to meet with prosecutors in the meantime.

Lawyers also expect to file a motion seeking Hill's release on bail.

Levin, 36, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft charges June 25, is said to be in 24-hour protective custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he is being debriefed by FBI agents. His sentencing is scheduled for September.

Levin, known for his flashy lifestyle, has told FBI agents that he bought top-secret investigative information from Hill and others in law enforcement and then earned $100,000 selling the information to criminal targets, which included organized crime members.

The new Porsche Levin bought just weeks before his arrest now has been repossessed, sources close to the jailed private detective said.

Levin, who has a wife and two small children here, is reluctant to return to Las Vegas because of the negative fallout over his arrest and cooperation with the government, the sources said.

Hill, who is facing theft and obstruction of justice charges in New York, reportedly had access to national security and electronic surveillance information as well as confidential informants and witnesses data stored in the FBI's computer system.