Authorities said they knew about Prouty's other security breaches before allowing her to negotiate a plea agreement, and did not seek more serious charges because they could not prove their allegations without compromising classified sources and methods. Also, they said, it appears that Prouty shared much of the information with her sister, perhaps out of concern for her and her husband, and that the sister in turn passed it on to Chahine.
When Prouty pleaded guilty Nov. 14, prosecutors said that her sister and Chahine had traveled to Lebanon together in August 2002 to attend a fundraising event where the keynote speakers were Hezbollah spiritual leader Sheikh Muhammed Hussein Fadlallah and Chahine.
