Ex-Wake employee sentenced to probation for accessing register of deeds' emails

Nelish Kumar Ramesh Tailor, 39, of 1007 Cantrell Lane, Apex, was sentenced to one year of supervised probation and 75 hours of community service. He was also fined.

The State Bureau of Investigation charged Tailor in December with 13 counts of accessing government computers. He pleaded guilty to one count each of computer trespassing and obstructing an investigation, both misdemeanors.

Investigators said he accessed Riddick's work emails more than 1,000 times between December 2012 and November 2014, and he allegedly continued to receive her emails after learning that the SBI was looking into the matter.

Riddick released a statement Friday and said she appreciates the work of the SBI and Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman and hopes that the plea will deter other potential cybercriminals.

"I’m terribly disappointed that anyone, especially one of our own computer system administrators, would break into my official email more than 1,000 times, some of which was confidential under state law – and then obstruct justice by secretly monitoring the criminal investigation itself,” she said in the statement.