A jealous Bronx NYPD detective expects to remain on the job after copping a plea on Friday to shelling out more than $4,000 to hack into department email accounts, so he could check whether one of his fellow officers was sleeping with his baby mama.
Edwin Vargas, 42, told Manhattan federal Judge Kevin Castel that from April 2010 to May 2012 he paid a Los Angeles company specializing in email hacking to supply him with personal log-in credentials – such as passwords and user names — to help spy on his ex-lover.
The data included information on at least 20 of his NYPD colleagues, including his former girlfriend.
He admitted to using the information to access the account of at least one person. Vargas also dug up personal information on two cops using the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, and accessed the phone records of another victim, authorities said.
“I paid an email hacking service, so I could access a friend’s account, and I did not have access to access those accounts,” he told the judge.
Vargas pleaded guilty to computer hacking and unauthorized access to a law-enforcement database.
Under his plea deal, he faces 10 to 16 months in prison and $3,000 to $30,000 in fines. However, his lawyer, Peter Brill, said he does not expect Vargas to get any jail time — and that he should be able to remain a cop.
Shaking his head, Vargas told reporters “I have nothing to say” after leaving court.
The feds busted Vargas in May after finding a file on his work computer with contact information for his victims, including e-mail accounts and apparent passwords, according to a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.
In some cases, Vargas communicated with the hacking company, which was not named, by freeloading off his neighbor’s wireless connections, the complaint said.
One cop told the Post in May said that Vargas’ allegedly creepy behavior has been an issue for years — and that he even pursued his co-workers’ ex-wives and girlfriends.
Vargas was disciplined last year for allegedly stalking his ex, with whom he has a young child, sources said.
He was penalized five vacation days and was transferred from the 40th to the 44th Precinct, both in The Bronx.
The woman, who was not identified, complained at the time that she was being stalked, and said that Vargas had sent her harassing texts and called her names, the sources said.