A former California FBI agent who federal prosecutors say abused his position to help pro golfer Greg Norman in his 2006 divorce was sentenced Monday in an unrelated case to one year’s probation, including three months of home confinement, The Orange County Register reported.
Peter Norell Jr., a veteran agent out of Orange County, was sentenced for illegally accessing FBI records and pressuring someone in 2005 to pay a $500,000 debt owed to an acquaintance and other investors.
Norell — popular among his peers, some of whom reportedly showed up in court to support him Monday — was not charged in the Norman incident in 2006. But it was cited by the government in a sentencing memorandum to illustrate another time that Norell had “misused his FBI position on behalf of a friend.”
Norell resigned from the FBI as part of the plea agreement for illegally accessing the FBI records.
During a three-hour sentencing hearing in Santa Ana, Calif., Norell apologized to fellow agents, prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford, according to the Register.
“I understand my actions have tarnished the image of the FBI and for that I am deeply, deeply sorry,” he said. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
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