Brazilian parliament worker admits selling information to gangsters
A sound engineer working for the Brazilian chamber of deputies admitted on Wednesday that he had sold recordings of secret testimonies to the First Capital Command(PCC), a major organized crime group in the state of Sao Paulo.

Arthur Pilastres Silva told a legislators' committee that he had sold the recordings to two lawyers for 200 reales (about 93 U.S. dollars), giving them access to testimonies offered by senior officials in the Organized Crime Investigation Department.

The lawyers delivered the recordings to the PCC boss Marcos Williams Herba Camacho, also known as "Marcola," who Sao Paulo authorities said had ordered a wave of jail and street violence that had left at least 140 people dead.

Pilastres said he had no knowledge of the contents of the recordings, adding that he had accepted the bribe because he had been poorly paid.

Paulo Pimenta, a spokesman for the committee, said the case showed that lawyers were being used as "carrier pigeons" for the PCC. He called for the immediate imprisonment of the two lawyers, whose names were not disclosed.

A wave of street and jail violence swept Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest state, from Friday night.

The state government said the PCC had ordered the violence, triggering more than 250 attacks on police stations and squad cars. Gangsters also burned more than 80 city buses and robbed at least 15 banks.

The death toll was set to rise as newspaper reports said that police had killed 33 suspected gang members in reprisals for attacks on their colleagues.

Sao Paulo media said the violence ended when the PCC and the regional government agreed on a truce. Regional authorities strongly contested the reports.