Vargas specifically acknowledged that he paid others to hack into email accounts, including those belonging to other NYPD officers and employees, and also accessed a federal law enforcement database without authorization to obtain information about other NYPD officers.
Between April 2010 and October 2012, Vargas, an NYPD detective assigned to a precinct in the Bronx, spent more than $4,000 to hire hacking services to obtain log-in credentials, such as the password and username, for 43 personal email accounts belonging to at least 30 different individuals, and one mobile phone. The victims included 20 current or former NYPD officers and an NYPD administrative employee.
“Detective Edwin Vargas broke the law, instead of upholding it as he swore to do,” United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, said in an FBI statement. “Vargas’s guilty plea today and his forthcoming punishment make clear that those who illegally invade others’ privacy, including members of law enforcement, will not escape prosecution.”
After receiving the log-in credentials, Vargas went on to access at least one personal email account belonging to an NYPD officer.
Vargas also admitted to accessing the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, a federal database, to obtain information about at least two NYPD officers without authorization to do so. Vargas was arrested in Bronxville, New York, in May 2013.
Vargas, 42, of Bronxville, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit computer hacking and one count of computer hacking. Each count carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge P. Kevin Castel on March 14, 2014.