The California attorney general has offered to drop felony charges against the four remaining defendants charged in the Hewlett-Packard spying case if they plead guilty to one misdemeanor each, according to published reports.The San Jose Mercury News quoted anonymous sources familiar with the case, while the Associated Press quoted Stephen Naratil, the attorney for private investigator Bryan Wagner, who pleaded guilty on Jan. 12 in exchange for an agreement to cooperate with federal prosecutors investigating the case. He faces sentencing June 20 on one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. Wagner is the only defendant in the case so far who has been charged in federal court.Authorities began investigating HP last year after the company revealed it hired private detective agencies to trace the source of leaks from HP’s board to reporters. The private detectives allegedly used a tactic called pretexting to gain unauthorized access to telephone records of targets of the HP investigation.A spokesman for the attorney representing former HP Chairwoman Patricia Dunn declined to comment on the published reports. Attorneys for former HP attorney Kevin Hunsaker could not be reached for comment, but in the past they have indicated no interest in accepting a plea agreement. The four remaining defendants are charged with fraudulent wire communications, wrongful use of computer data, identity theft and conspiracy. Besides Dunn and Hunsaker, Ronald DeLia of Security Outsourcing Solutions in Boston, and Matthew DePante, manager of Action Research Group in Melbourne, Fla., face state charges.In federal court last Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krotoski said that DePante hired Wagner, of Littleton, Colo., and directed him to use pretexting to get phone records. HP reached an agreement Dec. 8, 2006, with the office of then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer to settle potential civil charges in the case. HP agreed to pay US$14.5 million, which will go into a state law enforcement fund to investigate cases of corporate privacy violations. Lockyer was elected state treasurer in the November election, and former California Governor and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown was elected attorney general.-Robert Mullins, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)Related Link: HP Spying ScandalCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content News Amazon to lay off 9,000 more workers, including some at AWS The latest round of Amazon layoffs will impact AWS, Twitch, advertising and PXT, CEO Andy Jassy said. By Jon Gold Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Technology Industry Cloud Computing BrandPost What’s next for network operations Broadcom: 2023 Tech Trends That Transform IT By Serge Lucio, Vice President and General Manager, Agile Operations Division Mar 20, 2023 8 mins IT Leadership Networking BrandPost Digital transformation obstacles: Stubborn challenges, what to do about them Value Stream Management is an increasingly essential approach to strategic transformation initiatives. To help teams more fully capitalize on the opportunities it presents, Broadcom is holding its third annual VSM Summit. By Marla Schimke, Head of Product and Growth Marketing, Broadcom's Enterprise Software Division Mar 20, 2023 3 mins Devops Software Development Feature CEO directives: Top 5 initiatives for IT leaders As organizations change course with economic gyrations, collaboration between IT and business becomes priority No. 1 for CEOs. By Stacy Collett Mar 20, 2023 7 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe