Investigator Pleads No Contest to Possessing Police Data : Courts: Thomas Whiteaker is fined $5,000 and sentenced to a year of summary probation.

In a plea agreement, a San Fernando Valley private investigator pleaded no contest Wednesday to unlawful possession of confidential criminal history information, and was fined $5,000 and sentenced to one year of summary probation.

Thomas Whiteaker had faced a maximum sentence of 66 months in jail and $11,000 in fines.

Whiteaker had originally been charged with 10 counts of possession of the information, which prosecutors alleged was illegally accessed from Los Angeles Police Department computers by a police officer, and with one count of conspiracy to obtain the information--all misdemeanors.

As part of the plea agreement approved by Los Angeles Municipal Judge Veronica Simmons McBeth, Whiteaker was convicted of five counts of possession of the information without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

Reached Wednesday at his Mission Hills private investigation firm, Whiteaker Investigative Services, Whiteaker said he had no comment on the case.

Walter Ray Bentley, a veteran Juvenile Division police officer who allegedly gave Whiteaker and another private investigation firm the information, has since retired from the Police Department and faces trial for illegally accessing police computers to get the material. A preliminary hearing in his case has been set for Monday. In a separate case, Bentley faces charges of possessing child pornography.

Prosecutors alleged that Bentley also gave or sold such illegally gained information to a private investigation firm co-owned by former Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Daniel R. Sullivan, once a rising star in the department who at one time headed all San Fernando Valley operations and was once a top contender for the chief’s job.

In a plea agreement similar to Whiteaker’s, Sullivan pleaded no contest in September to five misdemeanor counts of illegally possessing the information.

When the investigation was first disclosed, authorities said they had been investigating for more than a year, using hidden cameras. Authorities alleged at the time that police computers were used to illegally access information on more than 500 people, including actor Todd Bridges and a murder witness who had been relocated for his protection.

On Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Yochelson said he was pleased with Whiteaker’s plea agreement to the five misdemeanor counts.

“This conviction should serve as a deterrent to others in the same (private investigation) field who perhaps were unaware that possession of this type of material is a crime,” he said. “We are very satisfied with the result.”