FBI agent pleads guilty to misdemeanor

An FBI agent accused of lying about two trips to Las Vegas that were paid for by an informant pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor and agreed to resign from the bureau. Erik Blowers, once the chief legal counsel and ethics adviser for the FBI office in Charlotte, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to making a false report.

Blowers, 40, originally faced a felony charge of making a false statement for failing to report thousands of dollars in gifts and travel expenses paid for by homebuilder David Simonini.

The FBI agent took two trips to Las Vegas in 2000 with Simonini, a former informant who was under FBI investigation. At the time of one of the trips, Blowers was head of the FBI squad investigating Simonini.

Simonini has since pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering. Blowers, who entered his plea in federal court in Greensboro, North Carolina, could get a year in prison and a $100,000 (Ђ84,797) fine at sentencing in January, AP reports.

A. A.