eBay Employees Accused Of Bizarre Harassment Of Natick Couple

NATICK, MA — Six former eBay executives and employees were charged with cyberstalking after authorities said they harassed a Natick couple who wrote negative reviews about eBay in their online newsletter.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling announced the charges Monday and detailed 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 six workers face federal charges of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. Lelling said the former employees became "enraged" when they saw the things the couple had posted about the company.

"The result, as alleged in the report, was a systematic campaign fueled by the resources of a Fortune 500 company to emotionally and psychologically terrorize this middle-aged couple in Natick with the goal of deterring them from writing bad things online about eBay," Lelling said at a news conference Monday.

The workers were identified as: Jim Baugh, senior director of safety and security; David Harville, director of global resiliency; Stephanie Popp, a senior manager of global intelligence; Stephanie Stockwell, a intelligence analyst; Veronica Zea, a contractor; and Brian Gilbert, senior manager of special operations.

The former eBay employees intimidated the couple by sending packages to their homes day and night, sending them messages online, and surveilling them in Boston, Lelling said.

The deliveries included fly larvae, live spiders, a box of live cockroaches, a sympathy wreath of the anniversary of the death of a family member, a book on how to cope with the death of spouse, pornography sent to next-door neighbors in the couple’s name, and a Halloween mask of a bloody pig, according to Lelling. He said they attempted to send a pig fetus, but the supplier flagged the order.

The executives created fake social media accounts to message the couple and took credit for the deliveries, Lelling said. The messages were intended to appear to be from people who sell on eBay.

Baugh and Harville tried to break into the couple’s garage to install a GPS locator on their car in August of 2019, Lelling said. Later that month, the group posted an ad on Craigslist that invited singles, swingers and couples to go to the Natick couple’s house for parties every night, Lelling said.

When the executives and employees learned that Natick police were investigating, they began drafting internal documents that expressed their concern about aggressive criticism, including a false threat from the couple toward eBay’s CEO, Lelling said.

Later, they came up with a list of people they could frame for their harassment, Lelling said. He added that they lied to eBay in-house lawyers about their involvement. The group tried and failed to delete their text messages about the harassment, Lelling said.