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INDIANAPOLIS — A top official in the LaPorte County prosecutor's office, who eavesdropped on private conversations between accused criminals and their attorneys on at least two occasions, has been suspended from practicing law.

The Indiana Supreme Court, which oversees attorney discipline in the state, on Monday voted 5-0 to prohibit Robert Neary from working as a lawyer for a four-year period, without automatic reinstatement, beginning Dec. 18.

The state's high court concluded that Neary, while LaPorte County's chief deputy prosecutor, used methods of obtaining evidence that violated the legal rights of a third person and engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.

According to the ruling, Neary and several detectives used remote audio and video feeds to listen in on a confidential conversation between a homicide suspect and his attorney in an interview room at the Michigan City police department on March 14, 2014.

Neary also separately viewed a video recording of a 2012 "defense strategy" conversation between an attorney and a suspect in a Long Beach homicide that inadvertently was taped in a police interview room during an interrogation break, court records show.