HARRISBURG — Attorney General Tom Corbett announced the arrest of a Forest County man accused of using his position as the chief information technology officer for the county to access a law enforcement email message and leak confidential information about an investigation involving a marijuana growing operation.
Corbett identified the defendant as Scott A. Henry, Tionesta.
Corbett said that while performing maintenance on the Forest County email system in June 2009, Henry allegedly discovered an email from a U.S. Forest Service Agent to the Forest County Sheriff’s Office concerning an investigation involving marijuana growing on national forest land in Forest County.
According to the criminal complaint, Henry printed a confidential law enforcement report detailing ongoing surveillance of a suspected marijuana garden, along with a list of individuals who were associated with the investigation. Henry then allegedly gave a copy of that document to an acquaintance, whose sister was among the people named in the report.
“Leaking confidential law enforcement information is a serious breach of the public trust and a threat to public safety,” Corbett said. “Alerting suspects about ongoing investigations compromises our ability to make arrests and also puts the lives of police officers, drug agents and innocent citizens at risk.”
Corbett said that the information Henry provided about the marijuana investigation was allegedly communicated to the individuals suspected of growing the drug, resulting in the abandoning of the marijuana garden.
Henry was arrested by agents from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation on Monday, September 28th. He is charged with one count of obstructing the administration of law and one count of hindering apprehension or prosecution, both second degree misdemeanors which are each punishable by up to two years in prison and $5,000 fines.
Henry was preliminarily arraigned on September 28th before Forest County Magisterial District Judge George F. Gregory and released on $10,000 unsecured bond.
Henry is prohibited from accessing any computer, computer network or computer system that is owned or leased by Forest County, from any location and for any reason. He is also prohibited from accessing official Forest County email.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 13th, at 11 a.m., before Magisterial District Judge Gregory.
Corbett thanked the U.S. Forest Service, the Forest County Sheriff’s Office, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation for their cooperation and assistance with this investigation.