A sentencing that was originally scheduled to take place months ago, finally happened earlier today, and former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa was sentenced to 46 months in prison. Correa will remain free on bond until he reports to federal prison within about six weeks.
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“I violated my values and it was wrong …”
“The Astros were the victim in this case, ” Kibbe said.
Correa, who was employed by the Cardinals between 2009 and 2015, admitted he hacked three Astros employees’ accounts so he could access a database nicknamed “Ground Control”. “Pending the outcome of the Commissioner’s investigation, we will have no further comment”.
SEE MORE: Cardinals Hack: A Lucky Password Guess Or A Criminal Attack?
Correa reportedly hacked the Astros database numerous times, examining the organization’s notes on recently-drafted players, potential draftees, worldwide prospects, and on trade discussions that had occurred in advance of the deadline.
But it’s likely that the Cardinals will be docked some combination of draft picks and/or suffer a substantial fine, regardless of whether or not they were aware of Correa’s actions. Much will be dependent on whether Major League Baseball finds out any more information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation or Correa regarding his activity and whether other members of the Cardinals organization are involved.
Correa was originally hired to work on the analytics staff of the Cardinals when Luhnow was in charge of the team’s draft.
The parties agreed that 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. Although never mentioned by name in the documents, two of the former employees being described are believed to be Luhnow and Sig Mejdal.
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The Astros used a database called Ground Control to house their player scouting data. On March 24, 2013, Correa viewed an Excel file of every amateur player eligible for the draft as well as the Astros’ internal evaluations and the scouts’ proposed bonuses to offer the players. He added that despite what Correa had claimed, the Astros were not using any proprietary information from the Cardinals. He also looked through Houston’s notes on trade discussions at the trade deadline in 2013. Only the New York Yankees have more World Series titles than the 11 won by St. Louis.
