Treachery

 

DOJ Paralegal Leaked Informant Names to Drug Traffickers Who Outed Them on ‘Haterz & Snitches’ FB Page

An Iowa paralegal working for the Department of Justice admitted to illegally revealing the identities of at least two cooperating witnesses in a federal drug trafficking investigation, providing the highly-sensitive information to someone who subsequently posted the informants’ names, addresses, and phone numbers to a “stop snitching” Facebook page with nearly 10,000 members.

Danielle N. Taff, 37, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of computer fraud. She was a contractor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa between June 2017 and June 2018.

Taff is from Ankeny and, according to a Facebook page that appears to belong to her, has three children and a soft spot for Jesus, reality TV, and morel mushrooms.

In early 2018, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement opened an investigation into a meth trafficking ring operating in Iowa and Arizona, according to court filings. Confidential reports, records, and documentation used by investigators was stored on a shared computer drive maintained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.