Claudio Sciarpelletti, computer technician, sentenced in Vatileaks case

GlobalPost

Claudio Sciarpelletti, a former computer technician at the Vatican, was found guilty of obstructing justice in the Vatileaks case that has already seen the arrest of the Pope's ex-butler Paolo Gabriele. 

Sciarpelletti, 48, was given a suspended sentence of two months after initially being given a four-month sentence, NBC News reported. He will not be required to serve his sentence for the two probationary months, and the sentence may be thrown out at the end of the allotted period if he does not break the law in that time. 

The technician, who worked at the Vatican for 20 years, also faced charges of "aiding and abetting Gabriele" in leaking sensitive papal documents to an Italian journalist, but was only convicted of obstruction because he changed his account of the events and his relationship to Gabriele several times during the investigation, Reuters reported

More from GlobalPost: Claudio Sciarpelletti on trial for connection to Vatileaks scandal

Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre cited Sciarpelletti's long years of service at the Vatican as contributing to his decision to suspend the sentence, and ordered that the criminal conviction would not show up on his record, the Associated Press reported

Sciarpelletti's desk was searched last May by Vatican police after they received an "anonymous tip-off," and they found a suspicious envelope addressed to Gabriele and private documents, BBC News reported

So far, Gabrielle and Sciarpelletti are the only two who have been charged in the leaks scandal, though Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters after the verdict that the investigation  "'isn't closed," according to the AP.

He did not say if there were others under investigation. 

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