It’s no surprise that many computer crimes have stupid criminals behind them. But it’s not every day that you have cops getting caught at their workplace.

A New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer has been arrested and accused of paying more than $4,000 via Paypal for “e-mail hacking services.” The officer used this service to gain access to “at least 43 personal e-mail accounts and one cellular phone belonging to at least 30 different individuals, including 21 who are affiliated with the NYPD; of those 21, 19 are current NYPD officers, one is a retired NYPD officer, and one is on the NYPD’s administrative staff.”

NYPD Detective Edwin Vargas was charged last week with one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking and one count of computer hacking—each count carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. He has since been suspended with pay by the NYPD as per normal department policy.

The complaint was sent to Ars by the United States Attorney’s Office. It alleges the Bronx-based detective hired an “e-mail hacking service” to reach those 43 accounts between March 2011 and October 2012. He is believed to have accessed “at least one personal e-mail account belonging to a current NYPD officer after receiving the account’s log-in credentials from the hacking service. Vargas also accessed the [National Crime Information Center], a federal database, to obtain information about at least two of those NYPD officers without authorization to do so.”

The document reveals that FBI Special Agent Samad Shahrani, who obtained and searched Vargas’ work computer, found some seemingly damning evidence in Vargas' Gmail account. The discoveries include:

- A list of at least 20 e-mail addresses along with what appear to be telephone numbers, home addresses, and vehicle information corresponding to those e-mail addresses. There also appears to be passwords for those e-mail addresses. - The list includes information for at least one e-mail address with the name and address of Victim 1. According to the NYPD, Victim 1, as well as a number of individuals whose e-mail passwords and other information are listed, is an NYPD officer. - At least two e-mail addresses for E-mail Hacking Services.

Vargas’ attorney, James Moschella, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.