eBay Employees To Plead Guilty In Natick Cyberstalking Case: Feds

NATICK, MA — Four eBay employees will plead guilty in October over the harassment and cyberstalking of a Natick couple, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

According to prosecutors, former eBay employees mailed items like a fetal pig and a bloody Halloween mask to the Natick couple's home. They 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.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling announced the charges in June, detailing a "systematic" harassment campaign that he said included the workers mailing cockroaches to the couple's home, trying to install a GPS tracker on their car and advertising their home as a party spot for swingers.

The former eBay employees charged include: Philip Cooke, 55, of San Jose, Calif.; 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.

The four defendants will plead guilty on Oct. 8, according to the U.S. Attorney in Boston. The four employees set to plead guilty weren't named.