Man Admits Wiretapping Wife’s Home

An Olympic Peninsula multimillionaire has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of wiretapping his wife’s home to gather information in their divorce case.

Gary Allan Bandy told investigators he hoped to use the wiretapped information to prove Eva Bandy was an unfit mother for their 3-year-old son.

Gary Bandy will attend an alcohol treatment facility in Arizona as part of the plea agreement entered Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

He could face five years in prison and $250,000 in fines when sentenced Dec. 22. But assistant U.S. attorney Arlen Sturm said it is unlikely Bandy would get a maximum sentence because he had no prior felony convictions.

A man Bandy reportedly paid $18,000 to place the wiretap in Eva Bandy’s home in Gardiner, just east of Sequim, has previously pleaded guilty. Sentencing for James Wilburn of Gig Harbor was scheduled for Nov. 17.

FBI agents learned about the wiretap through a conversation among Gary Bandy, his divorce lawyer and his corporate lawyer that was accidentally recorded on the voice-mail machine of Eva Bandy’s lawyer.

The recording occurred after divorce lawyer Steven Fields failed to hang up his speaker phone after leaving a message for the wife’s lawyer.

Bandy is estimated to be worth $40 million. A family invention, the “Bandy hinge,” is used on commercial aircraft.