A former Expedia Group worker who amassed 20 terabytes of illicit footage of ladies by hiding spy cameras all through the corporate’s headquarters — together with bogs — was sentenced to 4 years in jail Friday in King County Superior Court docket in Seattle.
Marcelo Vargas-Fernandez, 44, pleaded responsible in December to 14 counts of first-degree voyeurism and two counts of violating a sexual assault safety order for contacting one of many victims in October 2025 in an try to persuade her to not testify.
Earlier than handing down the sentence, Superior Court docket Choose Janet Helson heard statements learn on behalf of a number of victims, recognized in courtroom solely by their initials, who described the lasting trauma and “shattered” sense of safety brought on by the invasion of their privateness.
“I’ll surprise for the remainder of my life whether or not there’s extra footage of me someplace,” stated one of many victims in her assertion. “The fixed query, ‘am I being watched?’ is exhausting.”
Gary Ernsdorff, senior deputy prosecuting legal professional, described the scope of the case as “staggering,” noting that investigators recognized almost 60 potential victims within the 20 terabytes of information seized from Vargas-Fernandez. Ernsdorff informed the courtroom that the defendant meticulously organized the illicit footage by title, description, and exercise.
“We might spend, frankly, a profession going by the proof and parsing out and making an attempt to establish extra victims,” Ernsdorff stated.
Along with bogs, prosecutors stated in courtroom Friday that cameras had been additionally discovered mounted underneath desks to report individuals sitting in chairs, hidden contained in the door and dashboard of his car to report passengers, and even put in inside the toilet and lounge of 1 sufferer’s personal condominium.
Vargas-Fernandez sat in pink jail garb, his palms clasped on a chunk of paper on the desk, at one level eradicating his glasses to wipe his eyes as one assertion was learn.
Later, addressing the courtroom, Vargas-Fernandez apologized to the victims, his household, and his former employer, admitting that he “failed belief” and created “ache and worry.” He informed the choose he ought to have requested for assist to take care of despair and private points.
“That is my fault,” he added.
His legal professional, Court docket Will, emphasised Vargas-Fernandez’s efforts towards rehabilitation over the previous two years, noting that he has accomplished a psychosexual analysis, attended weekly intercourse offender therapy, and put in accountability software program on his units.
“He’s not earlier than the courtroom to make any excuses by any means,” Will stated.
Along with the jail time period, Choose Helson sentenced Vargas-Fernandez to as much as 36 months of group custody and issued no-contact orders to guard the victims.
“These should not victimless crimes,” Choose Helson informed him. “These are crimes with actual victims who expertise severe penalties of their lives.”
Expedia Group briefly closed its Seattle headquarters for 3 days following the invention to conduct safety sweeps however discovered no extra units at the moment.
Class-action lawsuits have been filed over the case, together with one towards each Expedia Group and its safety contractor, Securitas. The fits allege negligence, claiming that the safety crew didn’t act on the preliminary report of hidden cameras in December 2023, permitting the recording to proceed for weeks earlier than police had been lastly notified in January.
“Expedia is dedicated to defending the privateness, security, and safety of our staff and visitors throughout all workplaces,” an Expedia spokesperson stated in an announcement at the moment. “We totally cooperated with regulation enforcement all through this investigation and are happy that our assist contributed to holding the person accountable.”
The investigation by Seattle police started after hidden cameras had been found underneath the sinks of single-occupancy, gender-neutral bogs on the firm’s campus on the Seattle waterfront. Based on courtroom data, an worker first noticed a recording gadget taped underneath a sink on Dec. 4, 2023, and reported it to onsite safety. Nevertheless, the units weren’t instantly recognized as cameras or turned over to police at the moment.
The cameras reappeared weeks later. On Jan. 11, 2024, an worker found the units once more and alerted safety, who then contacted Seattle police. Witnesses reported seeing Vargas-Fernandez appearing suspiciously within the space whereas the restrooms had been closed.
Following his identification as a suspect, Seattle police executed a search warrant at Vargas-Fernandez’s house in Lynnwood on Feb. 1, 2024. An electronics sniffing canine was used to comb the condominium. The search recovered substantial proof, together with not less than 33 spy cameras, 22 SD playing cards, and 6 exhausting drives.
Ernsdorff, the prosecuting legal professional, stated in courtroom that investigators discovered no proof the footage was uploaded or shared on-line, regardless of discovering proof that Vargas-Fernandez had visited web sites that includes comparable illicit content material. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that victims might by no means have full certainty about whether or not their pictures had been distributed.
