Former N.Y. State Employee Pays $20,000 For Calling Chat Lines While On The Job

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A former state environment department employee has admitted to calling telephone chat lines while on the job, and paid $20,000 restitution to the state.

Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares said that 52-year-old Edward Reilly of Delmar pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor count of petty larceny and was given a conditional discharge after repaying the state.

State investigators accused Reilly last year of spending more than 500 hours making 760 calls to services with names like VIP Sensual Chat, Quest Chat and Secret Encounters between 2005 and 2011.

He resigned last August from his $88,000-a-year job as an environmental engineer at the Department of Environmental Conservation headquarters in Albany.

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