Two private investigators who impersonated reporters, Hewlett Packard board members, and their families have been sentenced to three years probation and six months electronic monitoring in the case.
Joseph DePante and his son Mathew DePante were sentenced Thursday in a San Jose, California, federal court. They had pleaded guilty to the charges in February.
The sentencing closes a final chapter in a corporate spying scandal that dates back to the spring of 2005, when HP's management decided to clamp down on embarrassing boardroom leaks. HP hired a Boston security company called Security Outsourcing Solutions, which in turn hired the DePantes' Melbourne, Florida, investigation company -- Action Research Group -- to identify the leakers.
The DePantes then oversaw a pretexting operation, where employees and contractors called up telephone companies and pretended to be the people they were investigating. They built files that included the names, phone numbers, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and phone call logs of 33 targets, including reporters at the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, and CNET. In some cases, investigators tailed journalists and board members to their homes.
Former HP Board Chairwoman Patricia Dunn dubbed the investigation "Kona." She also faced criminal charges in the affair, but those charges were dismissed in 2007. Dunn died last year.
The scandal led to civil lawsuits brought by the reporters, a $14.5 million settlement with the California Attorney General, and a Congressional investigation, where Joe DePante declined to testify, invoking his Fifth Amendment right protecting him from self-incrimination.
All legal action against HP has now been settled, HP said on Thursday. The company declined to comment on the DePantes' sentencing.
The Kona investigation was killed a few months after it started. It never did uncover the source of the leaks.
