Ex-Cop Gets Prison For Role In eBay Intimidation Case

NATICK, MA — A former police officer and eBay executive will spend almost two years in federal prison and pay more than $15,000 for his role in an intimidation plot focused on a Natick couple, according to court records.

Philip Cooke was one of several former eBay employees charged in the scheme, which targeted a Natick husband and wife who published a newsletter that covered ecommerce.

The scheme involved "anonymous and profane demands that the couple stop reporting about eBay; the publication of their home address on Twitter and threats to visit them there; the delivery of live insects and a funeral wreath; Craigslist posts inviting all comers to sexual encounters at their home; a black van that followed the husband as he drove around Natick, and so much more," federal prosecutors described in court documents.

The plot against Natick couple began in August 2019 after the couple began publishing articles about a lawsuit between eBay and Amazon, according to prosecutors.

"She is a biased troll who needs to get BURNED DOWN," one executive wrote to another about the Natick woman, court records show.

Cooke, a former Santa Clara, Calif., officer, was a manager on eBay's global security team. On Aug. 6, 2019, he took part in a meeting where executives and members of the security team brainstormed ways to intimidate the Natick couple, according to court records.

When Natick police got involved, Cooked helped guide other executives to throw local police off the case, court records show. He also advised his coworkers about how to surveil the couple, records say.

"The attacks were meant to scare us, and they did — we were terrified," one half of the Natick couple said in a presentencing report. The couple's identity has been kept anonymous.

Last fall, Cooke agreed to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. Federal prosecutors asked a judge to sentence Cooke to 30 months in prison, but the judge landed on 18 months. He will also spend three years on supervised release after he leaves prison. Cooke will begin his prison sentence on Sept. 7, court records show.

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