Jury convicts former DEA agent of obstruction but fails to reach verdict on Buffalo bribery charges

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent of obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents. But jurors acquitted Joseph Bongiovanni of a charge that he improperly wiped his DEA cellphone and failed to reach a verdict on a dozen other charges, including allegations the longtime agent pocketed $250,000 in bribes from the Buffalo Mafia.

The mixed verdict followed a week of often-heated deliberations and a seven-week trial that cast a harsh light on the DEA’s supervision of agents amid a string of corruption scandals at the agency.

Bongiovanni is among at least 16 DEA agents brought up on federal charges since 2015, including several serving lengthy prison sentences. Two former DEA supervisors are awaiting sentencing in a separate bribery scandal in Miami involving intelligence leaks to defense attorneys.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi said prosecutors will seek to retry Bongiovanni as soon as possible on the corruption charges that hung the jury, including allegations the agent shielded a sex-trafficking strip club outside Buffalo, New York, and derailed investigations into his childhood friends.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Jury visits a ranch near US-Mexico border where an Arizona man is charged with killing a migrant </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Trump will be first ex-president on criminal trial. Here’s what to know about the hush money case