eBay security boss who masterminded campaign of terror against couple who criticized the company 'is a retired SPY who used covert tactics he learned on the job to surveil their home'
An ex-eBay security boss accused of masterminding a campaign of terror against a Massachusetts couple claimed he previously worked as a spy.
James Baugh, eBay's former senior director of safety and security, was among six former workers charged last year with committing a twisted stalking and harassment scheme against a Massachusetts couple who occasionally criticized the e-commerce giant through reviews in their blog.
The eBay workers were accused of tormenting David and Ina Steiner, starting in June 2019, by sending them live cockroaches, a book on surviving a spouse's death, a bereavement wreath, and a replica of the mask worn by a sadistic killer in the movie franchise Saw.
Baugh was charged with 15 counts of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and witness tampering. He has refused to plead guilty, alongside another executive David Harville.
Now, Baugh's lawyers are calling on a judge to release proof of his previous work in convert operations to be used in his defense, The Boston Globe reported.
The attorneys said Baugh's bizarre actions were justifiable because he believed the criticisms contained in the Steiners' blog, EcommerceBytes, posed a legitimate threat to eBay top brass.
David and Ina Steiner were the targets of a horrifying harassment campaign that included live cockroaches being sent to their home.
A replica of the mask used by a madman in the horror franchise Saw was also sent to the couple's home.
eBay allegedly went to war against the Steiners' online e-commerce magazine, EcommerceBytes, over its negative coverage of the company
Court filings revealed the executives were 'well aware' of Baugh's background and 'expected he would use strategies and tactics that he learned in service of the U.S. government to address what they characterized as an existential threat posed by the newsletter,' the Globe reported.
Lawyers sought access to his alleged service records from 2014 to 2018. It wasn't immediately clear when Baugh joined eBay, but he was fired from the company at some point in 2019.
The harassment against the Steiner began in June 2019, when they discovered their fence had been tagged with graffiti.
The reign of terror intensified when the couple started receiving unsolicited, 'really disturbing' email subscriptions. Not long after, they said eBay employees tried to place a tracking device on their car.
Baugh was accused in a federal indictment of a three-part harassment campaign targeting the couple, which included traveling to their home in Natick, 24 miles from Boston, to spy on the the victims and install a GPS tracking device on their car.
According to the indictment, Baugh arranged meetings to plan and coordinate the harassment campaign, and ordered another executive, David Harville, to travel to Boston with him for an 'op' targeting the victims and their website.
eBay's former chief executive, Devin Wenig, was also sued by the couple, who say the company set out to 'psychologically torture' them
He ordered another co-conspirator to fabricate allegations that the victims threatened eBay and its employees as a cover in case the surveillance team was busted, the indictment says.
In a lawsuit filed by the Steiners against former eBay chief executive Devin Wenig, Baugh, and others, the victims said more than 50 eBay executives and employees subscribed to the EcommerceBytes newsletter over the years, including high level management.
The couple said that while they was initially on good terms with eBay, things turned source when some executives took issue with their reporting of the company. It said eBay launched back by creating fake user names to spam its newsletter's comment section.
As Ira Steiner continued to report on eBay-related news, upper management at the e-commerce company became increasingly frustrated, the lawsuit said.
The situation spiraled downward when eBay read critical comments from a fellow newsletter follower named who they falsely believed to be personally connected to the Steiners.
Soon later, in June 2019, efforts to 'intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence' the couple began, the lawsuit said. The harassment continued until September of that year.
The lawsuit contains a text exchange between some eBay workers discussing the plot against Ina Steiner
The Steiners were sent packages containing live cockroaches, spiders and fly larvae
The victims also received a bereavement wreath, a not-so-subtle threat, after sharing critical reviews of eBay in their newsletter
Prosecutors suspected the campaign was to stop the Steiners from continuing EcommerceBytes, a site dedicated to e-commerce news David and Ina have been running from their home for the past 22 years.
The site had been critical of eBay and its policies over the course of its reporting, which the Steiners say was honest and fair.
Co-conspirators in the case include Philip Cooke, 55, a former supervisor of security operations; Brian Gilbert, 52, Stephanie Popp, 32, eBay's former senior manager of global intelligence; Stephanie Stockwell, 26, the former manager of eBay's Global Intelligence Center; and Veronica Zea, a former eBay contractor.
Cooke was sentenced to 18 months in prison, one year on home detention and two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $15,000 and to perform 100 hours of community service.
Gilbert, Popp, Stockwell and Zea plead guilty in October 2020 and are awaiting sentencing. The maximum penalty for each charge was up to five years in prison.