Ex-Cardinals scouting director sentenced to 46 months in jail for Astros hack
Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for hacking into a Houston Astros' computer personnel database.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes levied the 46-month sentence and ordered the hacker to pay $279,037 in restitution on Monday from a federal courthouse in Houston. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release when he's released from prison.
In Monday's sentencing hearing, Correa called his hacks "reckless," but Hughes said what he perpetrated went beyond that.
"You have made it harder for them to live their lives,” Hughes said. "No, you intentionally and knowingly did these acts.”
Correa, who was fired in July 2015, pleaded guilty to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer in January and faced 25 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine.
“We are grateful that the court agreed to our sentencing recommendation as it was based upon our evaluation of the seriousness of the crime and the actions of the defendant,” U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said in a statement. “I am proud of the investigators and the federal prosecutor assigned the case who worked diligently to ferret out all the facts. Today, justice was done.”
A message left with Correa's lawyer, David Adler, was not immediately returned.
The breach was first reported in June 2014.
In a letter written by Correa, he said he was "overwhelmed with remorse and regret for my actions."
"I violated my values and it was wrong ... I behaved shamefully," he said. "The whole episode represents the worst thing I've done in my life by far."
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement that Correa admitted to illegally accessing the Astros' proprietary information from March 2013 through at least March 2014. The Astros' rankings for every eligible player in the draft as ranked by the Astros scouts and regional scouting reports of prospects were among the information Correa hacked into in 2013.
Correa was able to obtain password information from a laptop that was turned into him from a Cardinals employee who had left St. Louis to take a job with the Astros. Correa used variations of the passwords on the laptop to gain entry into the Astros' servers.
With the sentencing over, MLB could still discipline the Cardinals organization with a fine or loss of draft picks.
“While today’s sentencing of Chris Correa marks the end of the government’s investigation, we also understand that the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball will now conduct its own investigation of this matter," Cardinals Chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. in a statement.
"As we did with the government during its investigation, we intend to fully cooperate with the Commissioner’s Office in connection with its investigation so that this matter can finally be resolved. Pending the outcome of the Commissioner’s investigation, we will have no further comment.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...entenced-46-months-jail-astros-hack/87261322/
Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for hacking into a Houston Astros' computer personnel database.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes levied the 46-month sentence and ordered the hacker to pay $279,037 in restitution on Monday from a federal courthouse in Houston. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release when he's released from prison.
In Monday's sentencing hearing, Correa called his hacks "reckless," but Hughes said what he perpetrated went beyond that.
"You have made it harder for them to live their lives,” Hughes said. "No, you intentionally and knowingly did these acts.”
Correa, who was fired in July 2015, pleaded guilty to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer in January and faced 25 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine.
“We are grateful that the court agreed to our sentencing recommendation as it was based upon our evaluation of the seriousness of the crime and the actions of the defendant,” U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said in a statement. “I am proud of the investigators and the federal prosecutor assigned the case who worked diligently to ferret out all the facts. Today, justice was done.”
A message left with Correa's lawyer, David Adler, was not immediately returned.
The breach was first reported in June 2014.
In a letter written by Correa, he said he was "overwhelmed with remorse and regret for my actions."
"I violated my values and it was wrong ... I behaved shamefully," he said. "The whole episode represents the worst thing I've done in my life by far."
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement that Correa admitted to illegally accessing the Astros' proprietary information from March 2013 through at least March 2014. The Astros' rankings for every eligible player in the draft as ranked by the Astros scouts and regional scouting reports of prospects were among the information Correa hacked into in 2013.
Correa was able to obtain password information from a laptop that was turned into him from a Cardinals employee who had left St. Louis to take a job with the Astros. Correa used variations of the passwords on the laptop to gain entry into the Astros' servers.
With the sentencing over, MLB could still discipline the Cardinals organization with a fine or loss of draft picks.
“While today’s sentencing of Chris Correa marks the end of the government’s investigation, we also understand that the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball will now conduct its own investigation of this matter," Cardinals Chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. in a statement.
"As we did with the government during its investigation, we intend to fully cooperate with the Commissioner’s Office in connection with its investigation so that this matter can finally be resolved. Pending the outcome of the Commissioner’s investigation, we will have no further comment.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...entenced-46-months-jail-astros-hack/87261322/
