WASHINGTON — An ex-FBI contract linguist with top security clearance is headed off to prison for one year and eight months for leaking classified documents  to a blogger.

U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams in Greenbelt, Md. sentenced Shamai Kedem Leibowitz, aka Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, 40, of Silver Spring, Md.,  and ordered that he be under supervision for three years following his release.

Leibowitz, an Israeli-American lawyer, had been translating intercepted phone calls for the FBI from Hebrew to English and working out of the Calverton, Md. FBI office.

“The willful disclosure of classified information to those not entitled to receive it is a serious crime,” David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said in a statement. “Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to anyone in government who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets.”

In April 2009, Leibowitz  leaked  five secret documents relating to “the communication intelligence activities of the United States” to a blogger, who posted some of the information for all to see, authorities said.

“As a trusted member of the FBI ranks, Leibowitz abused the trust of the FBI and the American public by using his access to classified information for his own purposes,” said Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely.

He had been described in numerous press reports as being an Israeli peace activist.

By Allan Lengel

WASHINGTON — Murders, robberies and rapes were down in the U.S. in 2009, according to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report released Monday.

The report said violent crimes were down 5.5 percent over last year and property crimes dropped 4.9 percent.

More specifically, robberies dropped 8.1 percent; murder, 7.2 percent; aggravated assault, 4.2 percent; and forcible rape, 3.1 percent, the report said. Violent crime dropped 4 percent in metropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in non-metropolitan counties.

The report said the largest dip in murders —7.5 percent—was in cities with populations ranging from 500,000 to 999,999. Murders were up overall — 5.3 percent — in cities of 25,000 to 49,999.

Car theft was also down 17.2 percent.

By Allan Lengel

The latest danger to youth is a concoction called K-2, packets of herbs that can be smoked like marijuana to get high, USA Today reports.

Reporter Donna Leinwand writes that almost a dozen states and multiple cities have passed bans or are considering passing ones of the product known as “Spice” that is sold online and in stores, often as an incense. The product can sicken people.

David Ausiello, a DEA spokesman, said K@ is a “drug of concern”, USA Today reported. “We’re in the early stages of trying to figure out how potent it is.”

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By Allan Lengel

A Wisconsin state narcotics agent, who fled in his car when confronted by FBI agents last March,  is expected to plead guilty to stealing $1,100 in an FBI sting, according to the Associated Press.

Johnny Santiago, a special agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice,  is expected to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, AP reported.

According to an affidavit filed in court in March by FBI agent Susan Blish, the agent said she and FBI agent Daniel Hargreaves planted $17,740 in cash in a vacant store front in Milwaukee as part of an investigation into theft of cash by police.

The placement of the cash was videotaped and the video continued to play as Milwaukee police and Santiago,a state special agent, entered the store around 1:25 p.m.

The videotape shows Santiago discovering the cash and reporting it to the other police officers. As is policy in the Milwaukee police department, a lieutenant arrived at the scene and counted the cash.