Former Brooklyn prosecutor is accused of forging judges' signatures to obtain wiretaps
A former Brooklyn prosecutor has pleaded not guilty to charges that she forged judges’ signatures to wiretap the cellphones of two people.
The indictment against former prosecutor Tara Lenich was unsealed on Monday, report Law360 (sub. req.), the New York Law Journal (sub. req.), the New York Daily News and Courthouse News Service. A press release is here, and the indictment is here (PDF). Lenich was deputy chief for special investigations when she was fired in November 2016.
The indictment doesn’t identify whose cellphones were tapped, but previous press reports said the phones belonged to another prosecutor and a love interest of Lenich’s.
According to the indictment, Lenich forged the judges’ signatures by cutting them from legitimate documents and taping them to fraudulent documents that she created. She then forwarded the phony orders to two telecommunications companies. She used equipment from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office to intercept and record the cellphone communications, the indictment alleged.
The wiretapping schemes began in June 2015, the indictment said.
A prosecutor indicated that Lenich is in plea negotiations, according to the articles by Law360 and the New York Daily News.
