A preserved fetal pig, a bloody pig Halloween mask, and a book on surviving the loss of a spouse were among the items sent to a Massachusetts couple’s home as part of a cyberstalking campaign, for which the former senior manager of special operations for eBay Inc.’s global security team was sentenced on Thursday in federal court in Boston.
Judge William Young of the U.S. Senior District Court sentenced San Jose, California resident Brian Gilbert, 56, to time served, a year of supervised release as long as he stays away from both victims, and a $20,000 fine.
Gilbert entered a guilty plea to two counts of conspiring to tamper with witnesses and to commit cyberstalking in October 2020.
Investigators said that Gilbert and others targeted David and Ina Steiner. The pair created the web newsletter EcommerceBytes, whose coverage infuriated eBay management.
Gilbert is one of the seven now-former contractors and employees of eBay’s security team that were accused with involvement in the cyberstalking campaign and found guilty in the end.
“Today’s sentencing brings an end to our prosecution of eBay’s horrific conduct. The company’s culture resulted in seven eBay employees and contractors inflicting an unspeakable campaign of harassment and intimidation against the victims in this case, all to silence their reporting and protect the eBay brand,” acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy stated.
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According to authorities, the defendants carried out a three-part harassment campaign against the couple from Natick, Massachusetts, in August 2019. One of the parts of the campaign involved arranging anonymous and unsettling deliveries to the victims’ house.
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Additionally, announcements inviting strangers to yard sales and parties were put online along with their house address.
Prosecutors said that some of the suspects also made threats to visit the victims in Natick and criticized the newsletter’s content in both public and private tweets.
In order to settle criminal charges related to the harassment campaign carried out by employees who also sent live spiders, cockroaches, and other unsettling items to the couple’s house, eBay Inc. agreed to pay a $3 million fine in January, according to prosecutors.
