Ousted Hewlett - Packard Chairman Patricia Dunn , a former company attorney , and three outdoor investigators were charged Wednesday in California on felony commission relate to the conduct of an investigation to cross down news leaks from the HP circuit board that allegedly break Department of State law .

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer ’s authority saidcharges have also been filedagainst Kevin Hunsaker , a former senior lawyer at HP ; Ronald L. DeLia , a Boston - area private investigator ; Matthew DePante , manager of Action Research Group , a Melbourne , Fla. , info factor ; and Bryan Wagner , a Littleton , Colo. , valet who is say to have obtained private phone records while working for Action Research . The thrill were annunciate at a press league held Wednesday at the California Department of Justice .

The charge include using sham or fraudulent pretenses to prevail secret information from a public utility , wrongful utilization of data processor information , identity theft , and conspiracy to commit each of those crimes . All of the charges are felonies .

“ One of our state ’s most august corporate institutions lose its elbow room as its display board sought to find out who leak confidential info to the insistency , ” said Lockyer in a argument , expel Wednesday . “ In this misguided effort , masses inside and outside of HP violated secrecy rights and broke state police . ”

Lockyer ’s billet has been enquire the spying allegations because HP is based in Palo Alto , Calif. The charges were file in Santa Clara County Superior Court . The U.S. Attorney ’s Office in San Francisco and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been comport disjoined investigations of HP .

In a statement release after the filing , Dunn ’s attorney , James Brosnahan , said his client will oppose the charges .

“ These charges are being brought against the wrong someone at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons . They are the culmination of a well - financed and highly orchestrate disinformation campaign , ” Brosnahan said . He did not elaborate on his charge of a disinformation campaign .

“ As her many supporters fully gestate , she will fight these charges with everything she has , ” he enjoin .

In a assertion release Wednesday in advance of the Sacramento printing press group discussion , HP said it was proceed to collaborate with land and federal research worker .

The private investigators hired by HP allegedly used “ pretexting , ” profess to be someone they are not , to obtain the telephone record of HP director , other employees and journalist who cover the company in an attempt to get hold out who from the board provided selective information to the reporters .

The dirt has attract the attention of the U.S. Congress . On Sept. 28 , Dunn told the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that she believed employee and attorney who say that the HP ’s making water investigation complied with the company ’s standards of conduct .

The subcommittee was bear audience into the use of pretexting . The citizens committee give-up the ghost a Union ban on pretexting but the Congress adjourned before the full House or the Senate voted on the lawmaking .

When questioned about the technique used to traverse down the leak arose in the latter part of the investigation , Dunn say , she exit concerns to company Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd . Before then , the company ’s lawyers had ensure her the proficiency were being done “ legally and properly , ” she said .

“ At no time in the investigation did I authorise its method acting , ” Dunn said . & 38220;I asked this to be done in the HP received way . ”

On his part , Hurd told the subcommittee that he was not aware of the inside information of the techniques being used . He said he did not understand a report from the look into team that detailed the use of pretexting .

Ann Baskins , who resign mighty before the subcommittee hearing as HP ’s older vice President of the United States and general counsel , and Hunsaker both asserted their rights not to testify under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution during the hearing .

Also take the fifth before the subcommittee were Delia , Wagner and Action Research owner Joe DePante .

Dunn face these deplorable charge at a difficult time in her personal aliveness . Dunn , is schedule to begin chemotherapy Friday for a recurrence of in advance ovarian cancer , according to a Wednesday report in theSan Jose Mercury News . She was diagnose with ovarian Crab in 2004 and had been treated for breast malignant neoplastic disease and malignant melanoma dating back to 2001 , the paper reported .

Stephen Lawson and Robert Mcmillan of IDG News Service contributed to this story .