Just one former eBay employee remains to be sentenced in Natick harassment case

Norman Miller, MetroWest Daily News
·2 min read

BOSTON — One of the two remaining former eBay employees convicted of stalking and harassing a Natick couple due to negative articles they wrote and posted online about the global auction website has been sentenced.

U.S. District Court Judge William Young on Thursday sentenced Veronica Zea, 28, of San Jose, California, to two years of probation. The first year must be served in home confinement and she must pay a $5,000 fine.

Zea, a former intelligence analyst in eBay's Global Intelligence Center, pleaded guilty in October 2020 to conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.

Victim impact: Natick couple tells federal judge of eBay executives' campaign of harassment

The victims were Ina and David Steiner, who run an e-commerce news website called E-Commercebytes. They had posted articles that were critical of eBay, which angered eBay officials.

Led by James Baugh, the former senior director of safety and security for eBay, a group of employees began targeting the Steiners with harassment, terrorizing the couple throughout 2019.

Ina and David Steiner, accompanied by their attorney Rosemary Scapicchio, background, were subjected to a terror campaign conducted by seven former eBay employees.
Ina and David Steiner, accompanied by their attorney Rosemary Scapicchio, background, were subjected to a terror campaign conducted by seven former eBay employees.

The incidents involved sending items such as live insects and spiders to the Steiners' home, as well as a pig fetus and other disturbing items.

The group also harassed the couple online, creating fake Twitter accounts to threaten them and posting an advertisement for a sex party at their home on craigslist, listing their name and address.

Civil suit filed: Natick couple takes legal action against eBay, company officials in harassment case

Zea, Baugh and another co-defendant traveled in August 2019 from California to Natick to put the victims under surveillance and tried to install a GPS tracking device on their vehicle. The Steiners saw them and called police.

All known participants in the harassment case have pleaded guilty. One final co-conspirator, Brian Gilbert, awaits sentencing.

The Steiners have filed a federal lawsuit against all co-defendants, as well as eBay and several current and former executives.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: One former eBay executive still to be sentenced in Natick harass case