Larry Mendte To Plead Guilty, Confessed To Media Leaks, Formal Charges

Note: Politisite had received a report from MyFox Philly that stated Larry Mendte  wuod be charged in August.  NowPublic contributer who has sources lose to the situation related to us yesturday that the August date was incorrect

Charges where filed, yesturday, Monday, July 21st . He was charged with a single count related to reading the private emails of his former co-anchor, Alycia Lane.

Sources tell Fox 29 that former TV news anchor Larry Mendte will plead guilty to one felony count for his alleged snooping into the e-mail accounts of his former co-anchor, and that Mendte confessed to the FBI.

Fox 29 has also learned that Mendte was the sole source of leaks to the media about news anchor Alycia Lane.

Mendte is accused of reading the e-mail accounts of former co-anchor Alycia Lane without her consent.

Both Mendte and Lane were released from their contracts at KWY-TV in Philadelphia in recent months in a series of widely publicized incidents.

In June, CBS3 fired Mendte as the station read in a prepared statement on a 6 p.m. newscast.

A statement from the station said Mendte was being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office but noted that his termination "was based on an independent investigation conducted by CBS."

WAS THERE AN ULTERIOR MOTIVE IN THE MENDTE-LANE CAPER?

EXCLUSIVE -- Scrivener reports from Philadelphia, PA:

According to a source within Fox 29, an employee of CBS-3 who is believed to have been the person who allegedly installed "key capture" software on a station computer was recently terminated from the CBS owned and operated station (KYW-TV).

The source within Fox 29 stated that the terminated employee had the reputation of being something of an agitator, and was suspected by other employees of other usual occurrences in the newsroom.  The source did not elaborate.

The firing of this employee thus raises the question: Was this person working behind the scenes in an effort to invite -- induce --  Mr. Mendte into committing a federal crime?

Yes, Mr. Mendte is expected to plead guilty to a single federal court involving the reading of another employee's private emails -- but how that came about may be the untold portion of this story.

Was there someone above that terminated employee pulling the strings -- and to what end?

Stayed tuned.  More coming your way as we learn more.

Victor Livingston is an investigative/business/consumer journalist who has worked for major newspapers, TV stations and magazines. He hosted the "Sports Business Report" show on New York's Madison Square Garden TV Network from 1998 to 2004. He reports and writes about telecommunications, politics, and human rights issues, and is available for special assignment from responsible outlets in print media, internet, and TV.

Larry Mendte and Alycia Lane are Philadelphia news anchors who have each made their own scandals in the news. But Larry Mendte may have to go to jail for his news, as Larry Mendte was officially charged with hacking Alycia Lane's e-mail account and obtaining damaging information on Alycia Lane. Larry Mendte is expected to turn himself in and plead guilty to these charges in early August, and faces at least six months in prison for her spying on Alycia Lane's e-mails. These incidents ranged from Larry Mendte being the sources on various stories about Alycia Lane in the gossip columns, as well as leaking pictures of Alycia Lane on the beach to the New York Post.