WASHINGTON -A former State Department contract employee was sentenced Friday to a year's probation for illegally accessing more than 75 celebrity passport application files.
William Celey, 28, of Washington, was among six current or former State Department employees to plead guilty to unauthorized peeking into the files.
Celey, who pleaded guilty in July, also was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson to perform 50 hours of community service. He admitted logging into the computer database and viewing applications of actors, models, musicians, athletes, record producers, family members, a politician and others.
Celey acknowledged that he looked at the files to satisfy his curiosity.
The files contain a photo of the applicant and personal information protected by federal privacy laws. State Department employees are only supposed to access them for official government reasons.
An investigation into unauthorized peeking into files began in March 2008 after officials discovered unauthorized access of the files for then-presidential candidates Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
