Partial verdict reached in ex-DEA agent trial

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Seven weeks of testimony and two weeks of deliberations have led to a partial verdict in the case of a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent accused of accepting cash bribes to shield childhood friends and suspects with ties to organized crime from law enforcement.

The jury found Joseph Bongiovanni guilty on one count of obstruction of justice and one count of lying to federal agents over case file kept in his home after his retirement. Jurors acquitted him of deleting data on his DEA-issued cellphone when he retired.

The jury could not reach a verdict on the other 12 charges.

The former agent was charged with taking more than $250,000 in bribes from the Buffalo Mafia to derail drug investigations, and to protect a strip club owned by a childhood friend that was described by prosecutors as a haven for drug use and sex trafficking.

Prosecutors contend that Bongiovanni pocketed more than $250,000 in cash-stuffed envelopes over a decade and threw his colleagues off in part by opening bogus case files.