Court expunges record of Ex-Cincy reporter who stole voice mails

Michael Gallagher, the former Cincinnati Enquirer reporter who stole internal Chiquita voice mails for a series of stories he wrote for the paper, has had his record expunged.

Kimball Perry of the Enquirer writes, “Neither Gallagher nor his attorney returned Monday calls.

“Gallagher pleaded guilty July 16, 1998, to unlawful interception of communications and unauthorized use of property. He was sentenced to five years of probation and successfully completed that in April 2003.

“Gallagher co-wrote a series of stories in 1998 about the then-Cincinnati-based fruit giant, accusing it of crimes and worker abuses, all denied by Chiquita. The series was backed by voice mails from company officials – voice mails Gallagher later admitted he got by hacking into the Chiquita voice-mail system.

“The newspaper fired Gallagher, retracted the series, published front-page apologies and paid Chiquita millions – one court document noted it was $14 million.”

Read more here.