Ever had trouble getting your utility vendor on the phone? Now you know why.

Joseph Vaccarelli, a tech for Verizon’s Nutley, NY, facility, was recently charged with racking up $220,000 in phone-sex calls and charging the land lines of more than 950 customers. The calls were made over a series of several months — county prosecutors estimate Vacarelli made approximately 5,000 calls, resulting in nearly 45,000 minutes of call time.

To avoid getting caught, he placed the calls in 30 municipalities in Bergen county.

Here’s a more staggering breakdown: Verizon estimated that out of a 40-week work period, Vaccarelli spend 15 weeks — full-time — talking on adult chat lines.

He’s been charged with theft by deception and theft of services.

Tags: Chat lines, Land lines, Utility vendor, Verizon