FBI Investigating Former Chicago Anchor

Former Chicago news anchor Larry Mendte has been taken off the air from his current gig in Philadelphia pending an FBI investigation into whether Mendte hacked into his former coworker's yahoo e-mail account. Oh, and that coworker is police-puncher, Rich Eisen-e-mailer Alycia Lane.

Investigators have confirmed that Mendte viewed Lane's Yahoo account, sources said. Now, the sources said, investigators are combing through the e-mails he allegedly opened to see if the content can be correlated with embarrassing leaks to the media about Lane's private life.

Legal experts say the extent to which Mendte shared the information with others could determine his legal exposure. But even in a worst-case scenario, they said, he is unlikely to face jail time.

Mendte worked at WBBM from 1991 to 1995, where he won 27 Emmy awards. [Philadelphia Inquirer, Trib, CBS 3]