State employee pleads to felonies

A state worker pleaded guilty Tuesday to using his position to harass his ex-wife and buy computers with state money for personal use.

Brian Hunt, 37, of Carson City entered the pleas to felony charges of burglary and theft before District Court Judge Jim Wilson.

Hunt, a Department of Technology employee, created key cards and entered the Bryan Building after hours on 19 occasions to obtain information on his estranged wife who worked there, install spyware on her computer and erase messages he left on her work phone.

At the time, he was responsible for overseeing key card databases for numerous state buildings.

"This was a top-level person who took advantage of his position to harass his ex-wife," Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said in a news release Tuesday. "Employee misconduct will be prosecuted."

In addition, Hunt entered his ex-wife's home to steal computer information and files and install spy software on her computer.

Hunt also purchased five Dell computers using state funds, gave four to family members and sold the fifth on eBay, according to the attorney general's office.

He faces up to 15 years in prison when sentenced April 21.