Feds File Charges in HP Spying Probe

The first federal charges have been filed in the Hewlett-Packard spying scandal.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California accused Bryan C. Wagner, a Littleton, Colorado-based private investigator, of fraudulently obtaining private phone records of Hewlett-Packard directors and employees, as well as reporters who covered the company, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

He was charged with two counts of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, including violations of wire fraud and unauthorized computer access to information, the Mercury News reported.

Wagner — a self-professed "little guy getting pulled into this big situation," he told the Denver Post last September — may be planning to cooperate with prosecutors in further investigations. The fact that he agreed to waive grand-jury proceedings is another indication, according to Matthew Jacobs, a private attorney cited by the Associated Press.

Wagner's attorney, Stephen Naratil, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In October, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed criminal charges against Wagner and four others, including former Hewlett-Packard chairwoman Patricia Dunn. , and four others, including Wagner. Others charged are former HP ethics chief Kevin Hunsaker and private investigators Ronald DeLia and Matthew DePante.