Another Ex-eBay Employee Charged In Natick Cyberstalking Case

NATICK, MA — A former eBay security supervisor became the seventh person to be charged in connection to a cyberstalking campaign targeting a Natick couple, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Philip Cooke, 55, of San Jose, Calif., has been charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. Federal prosecutors say that Cooke, a former Santa Clara, Calif., police officer, discussed providing false information to Natick police, who were investigating the harassment of the couple.

According to prosecutors, former eBay employees mailed items like a fetal pig and a bloody Halloween mask to the home of the Natick couple, who had published a newsletter that sometimes criticized eBay. A group of eBay executives mounted a three-part cyberstalking campaign designed to squash the newsletter, according to prosecutors.

READ: eBay Employees Accused Of Bizarre Harassment Of Natick Couple

As part of the harassment, Cooke was supposed to offer to stop the abuse if the couple agreed to cover eBay positively in the newsletter, according to prosecutors.

During the harassment, the couple noticed that they were being watched, and called Natick police. Federal prosecutors said that Cooke and others discussed providing false leads to Natick police to throw them off the case.

"As the police and eBay’s lawyers continued to investigate [the cyberstalking], the defendants allegedly deleted digital evidence that showed their involvement, further obstructing what had by then become a federal investigation," federal prosecutors said.

The other former eBay employees charged include: David Harville, 48, of New York City; James Baugh, 45, of San Jose; Stephanie Popp, 32, of San Jose; Stephanie Stockwell, 26, of Redwood City, Calif.; Veronica Zea, 26, of San Jose; and Brian Gilbert, 51, of San Jose, also a former police officer.

Cooke could face up to five years in prison and hefty fines if convicted.