Brian Gilbert, Cyberstalking, Massachusetts 2020

BOSTON – In a shocking case of corporate power run amok, a former eBay executive has been sentenced for his role in a ruthless cyberstalking campaign targeting a Massachusetts couple.

Brian Gilbert, 56, of San Jose, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young to time served, one year of supervised release with the special condition that he have no contact with either of the victims in the case and a $20,000 fine.

Gilbert pleaded guilty in October 2020 to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. He is one of seven now-former eBay employees and contractors on the company’s security team who were charged and ultimately convicted for their roles in the cyberstalking campaign.

The victims, a Natick, Mass. couple, were targeted in August 2019 with a three-part harassment campaign. Among other things, several of the defendants ordered anonymous and disturbing deliveries to the victims’ home, including a preserved fetal pig, a bloody pig Halloween mask and a book on surviving the loss of a spouse.

As part of the second phase of the campaign, some of the defendants sent private Twitter messages and public tweets criticizing the newsletter’s content and threatening to visit the victims.

The case has sent shockwaves through the business world, with many left wondering how such a campaign could have been orchestrated by a company like eBay. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said, “Today’s sentencing brings an end to our prosecution of eBay’s horrific conduct. The company’s culture resulted in seven eBay employees and contractors inflicting an unspeakable campaign of harassment and intimidation against the victims in this case, all to silence their reporting and protect the eBay brand.”

Levy also noted that the charges against eBay will only be dismissed if the company commits no crimes over the next three years and satisfies both his office and an independent monitor that compliance with the law is paramount, starting with the C-Suite all the way down to the newest hire.

Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division, added, “No sentence can ever make up for the devastating and irreversible impact Brian Gilbert’s actions had on the victims in this case. As a former law enforcement officer, Mr. Gilbert should have stepped in and stopped this unprecedented, relentless, and over-the-top harassment campaign that he and others at eBay orchestrated to try and protect their company’s reputation.”

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