U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin's Office says
Clay County Sheriff Miles J. "Mike" Slack (see Eyewitness News photo right) has been charged with illegal wiretapping, a federal felony that can carry up to five years in prison.
Goodwin charged Slack with installing a keystroke logger device on a computer belonging to the West Virginia Supreme Court, a computer utilized by his ex-wife, who is employed in the Clay Magistrates Court.
According to court documents, the compromised computer was a government computer assigned to Slack's wife.
The computer network is in the offices of circuit judges and magistrates throughout West Virginia, and are maintained by the WV Supreme Court.
Federal officials said Slack installed the hidden device in late April of this year, intercepting messages and data transmitted from computer for about two weeks.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and the West Virginia State Police, with assistance from the state Supreme Court.
Keystroke logging devices are small and unobtrusive and can be plugged into the computers keyboard cable, often unnoticed, and can store vast amount of information.
Sheriff Slack has been charged using an "information," which indicates that a defendant is cooperating with prosecutors.
No hearing date has been set.
When Slack, a long-time Clay deputy of 16 years, announced he was going to run for sheriff, then Clay Sheriff Randy Holcomb demoted him, a move that threatened his ability to run for the position.
West Virginia civil service laws, deputy sheriffs other than the chief deputy cannot run for public office.
Slack then resigned from the sheriff's department and ran for sheriff, soundly defeating two other candidates in the primary with 78% of the vote. He was unopposed in the general election.
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