eBay executives has pleaded guilty in connection with his involvement in a cyberstalking campaign that targeted the publisher and editor of a publication which eBay executives considered to be negative of the company.
James Baugh, 47 from San Jose, Calif. was eBay’s former
So the Senior Director for Safety & Security. So pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit stalking in interstate travel and facilities used for commerce between states. Two stalking charges interstate travel and two stalking charges the facilities of commerce interstate and two counts of witness tampering. Two charges of destruction and alteration or falsification of evidence in a federal probe. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled the sentencing date for Sept. 29th 2022.
In June of 2020, Baugh was arrest and accused along alongside David Harville, eBay’s former Director of Global Resiliency.So Former co-conspirators eBay employee Philip Cooke, Brian Gilbert, Stephanie Popp, Veronica Zea and Stephanie Stockwell previously pleaded guilty. Cooke received a sentence in the month of July, 2021 to serve 18 months of prison. Gilbert, Popp, Zea and Stockwell are waiting for sentencing.So Harville has admitted guilt but is waiting for his trial.
In court papers, between August. 5 in 2019 and August. 23 in 2019, Baugh as well as his associates at eBay have agreed to take part in a campaign of harassment which targeted a couple located in Natick, Mass. due to their role in the publication of a newsletter which addressed issues that were that were of interest in the field of eBay sellers. The top executives at eBay were unhappy by the tone of the newsletter and its content. As well as the tone and the content of the comments that were post under the articles. The harassment issue arose from discussions between the executives and Baugh who was eBay’s security chief. employee.
Baugh and his co-conspirators conducted a three-part harassment scheme designed to intimidate victims as well as alter the contents of the newspaper’s reports. The scheme included unidentified and disturbing packages to the homes of victims as well as posting private Twitter messages as well as public tweets in which they criticized the content of the newsletter and threats to visit the victims in Natick and then travelling to Natick to watch the victims and put the GPS tracker on their vehicle.
The packages delivered to the home of the victims included a book about living with the loss of an spouse and a bloody pig mask and a fetal porcine. Funeral wreaths as well as live bugs. The harassment also included Craigslist postings inviting people to have sexual encounters at the victims’ residence.
The tweets that threatened to kill were written in the manner that were delivered by eBay sellers unhappy about the coverage of victims in the publication. The messages included the address of the victim and warned that they would visit the victims at their homes.
On August. 15 in 2019, Baugh and his co-conspirators were allegedly on a trip between California in the direction of Natick to watch the victims and install a GPS tracker on the car of the victims. The victims came across the surveillance group and reported it to the police in Natick. Following the news of the investigation by the police. Baugh provided false statements to internal and police investigators as well as deleted evidence that was in connection with the cyberstalking operation and falsified documents to sway police away from the trail.
The accusations of conspiring to be stalking or stalking have a penalty of up to five years prison and three years of suspended release and a fine up to $250,000, and the right to restitution. The charges of witness tampering , destruction, alteration or fabrication of documents in an investigation of the federal level each allow for sentences of up 20 years in prison as well as three years of supervision as well as a fine of up to $250,000, and the payment of restitution. The witness tampering accusations can also lead to forfeiture. The sentences are determined by the Federal District Court judge, based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes that regulate the calculation of sentences in an investigation into a crime.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins, United States Attorney Rachael S. Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Natick Chief of Police James G. Hicks announced the news. eBay offered valuable assistance and support to the investigation. Assist U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto as Director of the Deputy Director of Rollins’ Securities, Financial and Cyber Fraud Unit is investigating the case.
The details in the charge documents are just that – allegations. The defendant who is not charged is presumed innocent until proved in a court of law. To be guilty beyond any reasonable doubt by an appropriate court.
