A man was arrested Thursday on charges he invaded a former co-worker’s email account and used information found there, Bulloch County Sheriff Lynn Anderson said Friday.
William Lee Hudgens, 30, of Cottontail Lane, is charged with computer invasion of privacy. Hudgens was taken to the Bulloch County Jail after his arrest, and later posted bond.
A man reported “possible computer invasion of privacy concerning his email account” on April 12, Anderson said. The man and his wife sell insurance “and purchase leads for potential customers in blocks.” They “then contact those leads in an attempt to make a sale,” the sheriff said.
But when the man contacted those leads, he found the potential customers had already been contacted “by another insurance representative from a different company.”
Heather Salter, one of the victims and who works for Prosurity Insurance with her husband, who asked that his name not be published, said Hudgens was their manager before being fired from Prosurity.
“We were given a choice to remain with Prosurity or go with (Hudgens),” she said. When she and her husband chose to remain with the company, Hudgens ended their friendship and “lots of heated phone calls” resulted, she said.
When Salter discovered someone had already contacted her leads, she and her husband reported their suspicions that their email had been hacked to Bulloch County sheriff’s investigators, she said.
The two suspected Hudgens, and investigators issued subpoenas to Internet service providers, he said. With that and ”following up on other leads, investigators were able to establish probably cause to arrests Hudgens.”
Salter said her team was in the top sales division before the computer privacy invasion, but the week they discovered leads had already been contacted by someone else, they sold no policies. She estimated that they lost more than $1,000 in sales, she estimated.
“Clients told us they had already been contacted, and when we explained (what happened) they didn’t want anything else to do with us,” Salter said.
There is no telephone listing for William Lee Hudgens in Statesboro and he was not able to be reached Friday for comment.
Hudgens posted a $3,000 bond.
Anyone with information on this case should contact sheriff’s Investigator Walter Deal at (912) 764-1788 or submit an anonymous tip to tips@bullochsheriff.com.

Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.