By Steve Neavling
A deputy U.S. Marshal was indicted in federal court with unlawfully obtaining cell phone location information by misusing a law enforcement service for personal reasons and later lying about it, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Adrian Pena, 48, of Del Rio, Texas, is accused of obtaining cell phone location information about multiple people with whom he had personal relationships and their spouses.
To obtain the information, Pena allegedly uploaded false and fraudulent documents to Securus Technologies Inc.
When authorities became aware of the allegations, Pena is accused of lying to investigators about his use of the service.
He went even further by persuading a person to sign an affidavit attesting that he or she had given Pena unlimited access to his or her personal cell phone information at all times, prosecutors allege.
Pena was indicted on 11 counts of obtaining confidential phone records, two counts of false statements, and one count of falsification of a record, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
