• Associated Press, Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:30 PM

Colorado authorities have opened a criminal probe into whether an attack ad run by Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez against his opponent in the governor's race illegally used information from a federal law enforcement database.

The spot at issue criticizes his opponent, Bill Ritter, a Democratic former district attorney, for seeking a plea deal in the case of an illegal immigrant arrested on charges of heroin trafficking. Ritter's campaign has suggested that the information was taken from computerized crime records. Use of the federal criminal database for any purpose other than law enforcement is a crime. But a spokesman for Beauprez says the information came from an informant he refused to identify, and that the campaign is cooperating with investigators.

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