A former official with the Saint Louis Cardinals pleaded guilty on Friday to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer in connection with the hacking of computer systems operated by the Houston Astros.
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Correa, 35, was charged with five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer and pleaded guilty to all counts.
Fast forward to one year later, the New York Times reported the FBI was investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking into the Astros’ “Ground Control” network. That departing employee was instructed by the Cardinals to give his computer and password to Correa when he left the Cardinals organization, the government said.
The Astros, including their attorney and general manager Jeff Luhnow, have denied the use of anything proprietary to the Cardinals. 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.
Prosecutors said Correa masked his identity, his location and the type of device that he used, and that the total intended loss for all of the intrusions is approximately $1.7 million.
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. Team chiarman Bill DeWitt Jr. declined comment after the decision. MLB’s probe could result in penalties levied against the Cardinals as an organization.
The Cardinals fired Correa last summer when allegations surfaced. The Cardinals reportedly infiltrated an internal network of the Houston Astros in order to obtain information related to player development. The details of the hacking emerged, and it appeared to be a rather unsophisticated attempt to look at information on the Astros database.
“I accept responsibility in this case”, Correa told U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes in Houston. He will be released on $20,000 bond.
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Information Correa accessed on multiple occasions from at least March 2013 to March 2014 included Astros scouting, draft and trade information as well as employee personal email accounts. He also denied he used any of the Cardinals’ intellectual property or information from Redbird to create Houston’s database.
