Ex-eBay executive threatened newsletter writers, sent ‘disturbing’ packages, feds say
A former eBay executive has pleaded guilty to cyberstalking that prosecutors said targeted the editor and publisher of a newsletter who wrote about the company.
James Baugh, 47, was accused of conducting a harassment campaign to change the newsletter’s reporting, and ordered items that included a fetal pig, a funeral wreath and more to be delivered to the couple, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Baugh, a San Jose, California resident, was eBay’s senior director of safety and security, and was arrested and charged along with several co-conspirators in June 2020, the April 25 release said.
Baugh’s lawyer declined McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Prosecutors said Baugh and his co-conspirators and co-workers engaged in a “three-part harassment campaign” to target the editor and publisher of a newsletter they believed did not write about eBay favorably.
Between August 2019 and August 2020, the co-workers targeted the husband and wife in charge of the newsletter, which included information that concerned eBay sellers, the release said.
“Senior executives at eBay were frustrated with the newsletter’s tone and content, and with the tone and content of comments posted beneath the newsletter’s articles,” the release said. “The harassment campaign arose from communications between those executives and Baugh, who was eBay’s senior security employee.”
The campaign involved sending threatening messages, disturbing deliveries and surveillance of the couple at their home in Massachusetts, the release said. The former employees also installed a GPS tracking device on the couple’s car, prosecutors said.
The threatening messages were written to appear as if they were sent by eBay sellers and readers of the newsletter who were displeased with their coverage, the DOJ release said.
Some of the “disturbing” deliveries included a book on how to survive the death of a spouse, a bloody pig mask, a fetal pig and live insects. Additionally, prosecutors said the eBay employees crafted Craigslist posts inviting strangers to the couple’s home for “sexual encounters,” according to the release.
The former eBay employees also face charges stemming from their actions upon learning of the police investigation. Prosecutors said Baugh lied to investigators, deleted evidence and falsified records.
Baugh and his co-conspirators face up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and restitution for each stalking charge and 20 years in prison for each tampering charge.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Ex-eBay executive threatened newsletter writers, sent ‘disturbing’ packages, feds say."
