BOSTON (AP) — The former senior director of special operations for eBay Inc.’s global security team was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Boston for his role in a cyberstalking campaign that included sending a preserved fetal pig, a bloody pig Halloween mask and a book about surviving the loss of a spouse to a Massachusetts couple’s home.
Brian Gilbert, 56, of San Jose, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William Young to time served, one year of supervised release on the condition he have no contact with either victim and a $20,000 fine.
In October 2020, Gilbert pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.
Gilbert and others targeted David and Ina Steiner, investigators said. The couple produced an online newsletter called EcommerceBytes that irked eBay executives with its coverage.
Gilbert is one of seven former eBay employees and contractors on the company’s security team who were charged and ultimately convicted for their roles in the cyberbullying campaign.
“Today’s conviction brings to a close our prosecution of eBay for its horrific conduct. The company’s culture led seven eBay employees and contractors to wage an unspeakable campaign of harassment and intimidation against the victims in this case, all to silence their whistleblowers and protect the eBay brand,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement.
In August 2019, the defendants waged a three-pronged harassment campaign against the Natick, Massachusetts, couple, including ordering anonymous and disruptive deliveries to the victims’ homes, investigators said. Their home addresses were also posted online along with ads inviting strangers to yard sales and parties.
Some of the defendants also sent private Twitter messages and public tweets criticizing the newsletter’s content and threatening to visit the victims in Natick, prosecutors said.
The third phase of the campaign involved monitoring victims in their homes and communities. Victims spotted the surveillance and notified Natick police, who began investigating.
In January, eBay Inc. agreed to pay a $3 million fine to settle criminal charges related to the harassment campaign by employees who also sent live spiders, cockroaches and other disturbing objects to the couple’s home, prosecutors said.
