HP investigator pleads guilty in boardroom leaks case

SAN FRANCISCO -- A former Hewlett-Packard Co. private investigator pleaded guilty to posing as a reporter and as company directors to get telephone records for an internal probe of boardroom leaks.

Bryan Wagner, 29, of Littleton, Colo., admitted to identification theft and conspiracy yesterday before US District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose, Calif. Wagner's lawyer said his client didn't know he was working for the company and was assured his actions were legal. Wagner agreed to assist the government in its investigation of the leak probe at HP, the world's largest PC maker.

"Its kind of a one-way street," Fogel said of Wagner's cooperation agreement. "You are making a promise to the government. The government is not promising they will make a recommendation of leniency."

Disclosure of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard's probe led to the resignations of chairman Patricia Dunn, general counsel Ann Baskins, and three other executives. Wagner's defense lawyer, Stephen Naratil, said his client has been cooperating with prosecutors. Wagner faces as many as seven years in prison at his sentencing on June 20.

Wagner and two other private detectives, Ronald DeLia of Needham and Matthew Depante, were accused of faking identifications, a technique known as pretexting, to get phone records of board members and journalists.

Wagner worked for Action Research Group of Melbourne, Fla., which was contracted by DeLia's Boston-based Security Outsourcing Solutions for the HP internal probe.

Wagner allegedly used Social Security numbers as part of his effort on behalf of HP. The detectives pleaded not guilty to separate state charges.

Assistant US Attorney Mark Krotoski said in court yesterday that Depante provided Wagner with the Social Security numbers.

Wagner contacted telephone companies to get call logs and billing records of a Wall Street Journal reporter and at least two company directors, their family members, and other, unnamed people, Krotoski said.

Naratil said Wagner was "used" by the other detectives and lawyers who knew his actions were illegal and told him otherwise.

"He was assured by many people, lawyers included, that what he was doing was completely legal," Naratil said. "He was your classic dupe."

Richard Preira, a lawyer for Depante, said prosecutors have asked for Depante's cooperation, which he has refused. Depante is "not cooperating with federal authorities to avoid criminal prosecution because he hasn't committed any crimes," Preira said.

Preira disputed the government's claim that Depante provided Wagner with Social Security numbers. According to Preira, Wagner acknowledged Depante's innocence in a taped statement to the California Bureau of Investigation, admitting Depante ran a "clean shop."

Dunn authorized the internal probe in an effort to uncover the source of boardroom leaks to the media. Dunn and Kevin Hunsacker, a former ethics director at the company, also pleaded not guilty to state charges.

Only Wagner has been charged with a federal crime.

California prosecutors have offered to reduce state charges against Wagner to one misdemeanor count, Naratil said. Wagner will plead guilty to that charge, the lawyer said.

"Pleading someone at the low level in exchange for cooperation is the classic federal prosecution pattern and it has one goal: to climb to the top of the pyramid," said William Portanova, a criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor. "Anyone who had anything to do with any part of this mess has reason to worry."

The federal conspiracy charge against Wagner carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for aggravated identify theft is a mandatory two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. US prosecutors can request a waiver of the mandatory sentence.

Luke Macaulay, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in San Francisco, declined to say whether prosecutors are negotiating with other defendants in the state case.

HP spokesman Ryan Donovan and Terry Fahn, a spokesman for Dunn, declined to comment.

Neither Thomas Nolan, a lawyer for DeLia nor Michael Pancer, a lawyer for Hunsaker returned calls.