Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Beijing, Sept. 30 (Xinhua)-- two former eBay executives were jailed on Thursday in the United States local time for participating in an online tracking program that tracks a couple who run an e-commerce blog that is thought to criticize the company.

James Baugh, a former senior director of safety and security at eBay, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, while David Harville, a former global resilience director at eBay, was sentenced to two years in prison. Both men pleaded guilty to the charges in the case.

Bogg, Havel and other eBay executives orchestrated a campaign in 2019 to harass Ina Steiner and David Steiner, the editors and publishers of the ecommerce blog eCommercebytes, a site closely watched by online sellers. Prosecutors allege that Devin Wenig, former chief executive of eBay, and other leaders within the company were angry at the couple's coverage of the company and urged the executives to pursue the couple.

Prosecutors said in a statement that eBay had launched a bizarre and complex "three-part harassment campaign" to "intimidate" the Steiner couple and influence their coverage of the company.

The accused eBay executives sent harassing and threatening messages to the couple on Twitter several times, and the campaign escalated further according to prosecutors' allegations: the Steiner began to receive "disturbing couriers" at their home outside Boston These include a book on how to live after the death of a spouse, a bloody pig face mask, a fetal pig, a funeral wreath and live insects. In addition, posts appeared on Craigslist, a classified advertising site, inviting strangers to the homes of the two victims to experience sexual behavior.

Mr. Bogg, Mr. Havel and other eBay executives also traveled from California to the Steiner couple's home to monitor them. Prosecutors allege that they had hoped to install GPS trackers on the couple's car, but the garage was locked, so Havel bought tools and broke in.

Five other eBay employees have also pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case.

Rachael Rollins, the US prosecutor, said in a statement that "harmful harassment, threats and stalking by defendants online and in the real world are shameless and cruel, and there is no excuse to explain-especially because these people are experienced, well-paid security managers and are supported by the resources of a Fortune 500 company. Their actions should be condemned."

A spokesman for eBay and the Steiner couple did not respond to requests for comment.

Vinig resigned as chief executive of eBay in 2019 and his name was not mentioned in the case. The Steiner couple have filed separate lawsuits against eBay, Veniger and former eBay senior vice president Steve Weimer (Steve Wymer), and the case is still pending.

"We believe that everyone involved should be held accountable," Ina Steiner said in a blog post on Wednesday. "

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