It is not yet known which of the charges Correa will plead guilty to.
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As part of his plea agreement, Correa admitted that from March 2013 through at least March 2014, he illicitly entered the database and email accounts of others in order to gain access to Astros proprietary information, federal officials said. The hacks allegedly occurred multiple times over the course of a few years and investigators reportedly traced one of the breaches back to a house in Jupiter, Fla., which is where the Cardinals conduct spring training. He had been involved with the Cardinals’ drafts from a statistical standpoint and has gained scouting experience in his role both at the major league and amateur levels. The FBI says that no other Cardinals employees were involved in the hack. Correa was able to access the former Cardinals employee’s email once again on his old laptop and obtained the new URL and newly reset passwords for all employees, according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors accused Correa of improperly downloading an Excel file of the Astros’ scouting list naming every eligible player for the 2013 draft.
But Luhnow, a former technology executive who left St. Louis to become the Astros’ general manager in December 2011, denied bringing proprietary information from the in-house baseball information network he helped set up in St. Louis. The commissioner’s office intends to look into the results of the federal investigation when determining if and when penalties will be assessed against the Cardinals.
First, this all started because Victim A-presumably Jeffrey Luhnow, the Cardinals’ former vice-president for scouting and player development-didn’t change his password.
Correa told the judge that his choices were “stupid” ones. Correa, 35, was sacked last summer and faces up to five years in prison on each charge when he is sentenced April 11. Today, the Wall Street Journal’s Brian Costa is reporting that Chris Correa will be indicted on charges related to hacking the Astros and he is expected to plead guilty.
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When Correa was first investigated, he denied any illegal activity via a statement from his lawyer. The Cardinals, whose chairman, Bill DeWitt Jr., had blamed the incident on “roguish behavior”, declined comment.
