Tim Burke, Tampa city council member’s husband, indicted for conspiracy 9 months after FBI raid
TAMPA, Fla. - The husband of Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak was arrested on federal charges on Thursday.
According to an affidavit, a grand jury returned a 14-count indictment for Tim Burke.
He was indicted for conspiracy, intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and intentionally intercepting wire, oral or electronic communication.
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According to documents, Burke and an unnamed co-conspirator in Washington D.C., accessed a protected computer without authorization, used the internet to search protected computers and secure credentials such as usernames and passwords they were not authorized to use, scoured the protected computers for electronic items and information they found desirable.
Pictured: Tim Burke
The indictment states that the companies the pair targeted include the NSL (National Sports League), StreamCo Inc., a multi-national media company headquartered in New York, and a commercial broadcast television and radio network also headquartered in New York.
According to the indictment, Burke and his co-conspirator communicated with each other through direct messages on Twitter and their Google accounts.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at the home Burke shares with Hurtak in May 2023. Documents show that the agents left with multiple electronic devices, including his computer and phone as well as hard copy items.
The home Burke shares with wife, Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak, was searched by the FBI in May 2023.
At the time, it was reported that the FBI seizure was part of an investigation into leaked behind-the-scenes video of FOX News.
In July 2023, Burke’s attorneys filed a motion saying there were no hacks and that he did not break the law. They went on to say that the videos in question were publicly accessible on a website that was not encrypted and did not require a username and password. At the time, the attorneys said the government was violating his rights.
Burke is a reporter whose catfishing story on football player Manti Te’o became a Netflix series.