Bryan Wagner, an independent investigator at Action Research Group in Colorado, was hired by HP to ferret out the source of media leaks from HP’s board last year and has now admitted to using a fake identity to obtain the private phone logs of a reporter covering HP.
Wagner, meanwhile, faces a maximum of five years prison time for conspiracy and a minimum of two years for aggravated identity theft, as charged by the feds.
Wagner is the first person charged by either state or federal prosecutors to plead guilty among the five charged over HP’s internal probe. State prosecutors have charged former HP chairperson Patricia Dunn, and HP’s former director of ethics Kevin Hunsaker, as well as two other private investigators hired by HP. All have pleaded not guilty.
Wagner has been cooperating with federal investigators for months, according to local reports. And he will testify on the condition the feds pursue others implicated in the investigation.
Californian prosecutors allege that Dunn gave the orders in the HP investigation and authorized illegal surveillance of HP board members, other HP employees and reporters. The probe resulted in George Keyworth losing his seat on the board for allegedly leaking confidential information to the media.
Wagner’s deal includes pleading guilty to illegally obtaining the Social Security numbers of two former HP directors and some of their family, as well as two journalists.
Wagner’s sentencing has been set for June 20. He faces a maximum of five year’s prison time for conspiracy and a minimum of two years for aggravated identity theft. His plea deal did not seem to include sentencing.
No trial dates for Dunn and the others have been announced. While they are being charged by state rather than federal prosecutors, California’s privacy laws are generally considered far stricter than federal laws.
The two other independent private eyes being charged by prosecutors in HP’s home state of California are Ronald DeLia, managing director of Security Outsourcing Solutions; and Matthew Depante, manager of information broker Action Research Group.
