Anyone violating the rules for use of NCIC could be charged with improper use of a computer and face misdemeanor charges of up to a year in jail, Troyer said. Aggravating circumstances - such as giving information in exchange for money - could bump those charges up to a felony, punishable by as many as 10 years in prison.

Campaign workers could also be at risk.

"They could certainly be in trouble if they knew what was happening, conspired to make it happen or directed it," said Troyer, who served more than five years in the U.S. Attorney's office before moving into private practice two years ago.

What's more, he said the relevant federal statute gives no exemption to whistle-blowers. That could nullify Beauprez's assertion that the source was revealing information critical to the public.

Three former federal prosecutors said Friday that misuse of the NCIC criminal database intended for law enforcement only is a serious offense. "It's a powerful tool with sensitive information," said Robert Blume, a former federal prosecutor for eight years in Washington, D.C., and now a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Denver.

The FBI is investigating whether an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent illegally tapped NCIC - National Crime Information Center database - to provide information to the campaign of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez. That information was later used in a TV ad.

Blume, who has not taken sides in the gubernatorial race, said anyone with access to NCIC must go through training and get a code to get into the system.

"It's certainly an ethical issue in that anyone granted access to sensitive information has a duty to protect that information and use it only for the purposes for which it was intended," Blume said.

He said investigators and prosecutors could move quickly because the charges come in the midst of a highly contested campaign, with fairness being paramount.

"These are questions that demand serious attention," Blume said. "It needs to be approached in a bipartisan way and done thoroughly so there is not a question that the line between objective law enforcement efforts and politics is blurred."

Another former federal prosecutor, Bob Troyer, said he got extensive training about the privileged use of the NCIC database.

"We were told in the strongest possible terms that there was never to be use of that system for anything but a proper law enforcement investigation."