By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
An ex-FBI agent pleaded guilty Friday to obtaining information about an undercover law enforcement operation in Newark and giving it to a close friend, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark announced.
In June 2011, Ivan Stantchev was asked by a friend to obtain confidential information in connection with four telephone numbers and any individuals associated with those numbers, authorities said.
Authorities said Stantchev asked an FBI colleague in the New York Metro area to obtain this information from FBI computers.
On June 30, 2011, that colleague sent Stantchev an electronic document through the FBI’s email system detailing confidential information from certain FBI databases, including the existence of an ongoing FBI investigation in Newark, N.J.; the federal offenses being investigated in Newark; the related FBI case number; the name of the FBI’s operation; and notations confirming the existence of an undercover law enforcement operation in Newark.
