2 Former eBay Employees Plead Guilty In Natick Cyberstalking Case

NATICK, MA — Two of the seven former eBay employees charged in a cyberstalking case involving a Natick couple have pleaded guilty, according to federal prosecutors.

Former eBay global intelligence manager Stephanie Popp, 32, and former eBay intelligence analyst, Veronica Zea, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Former eBay employees James Baugh, David Harville and Phil Cooke are expected to plead guilty in late October.

The employees concocted a three-part plan to torment the Natick couple after they published an article in their newsletter about a lawsuit involving eBay executives, prosecutors said.

The first part involved mailing items like a fetal pig, pornography and a bloody Halloween mask to the Natick couple's home. Later, the employees threatened the couple online, and even visited their home, prosecutors said.

"Baugh, Harville, and Zea (and later Popp) drove to the victims’ home in Natick several times, with Harville and Baugh allegedly intending to break into the victims’ garage and install a GPS tracking device on their car," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said in a news release. "As protection in the event if they were stopped by police, Baugh and Harville allegedly carried false documents purporting to show that they were investigating the victims as 'Persons of Interest' who had threatened eBay executives."

The Natick couple noticed the surveillance, however, and contacted Natick police, touching off a federal investigation.