Former St. Louis Cardinals exec sentenced to 46 months

Former St. Louis Cardinals executive Chris Correa was sentenced to 46 months in prison by a federal judge for hacking into the Houston Astros’ player personnel database and email system.

It was tale that seemed unbelievable when it first came to light: An executive with one Major League Baseball team was accused of hacking into another Major League Baseball team’s computer system and looking at confidential information. But when all was said and done, the story was in fact true, and the person behind the hack was exposed. His name is Christopher Correa, and at the time, he was the Director of Scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he had indeed hacked into the Houston Astros’ player personnel system a number of times in 2013 and in 2014.

According to Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated, Correa “studied the team’s weekly digest page, which identified draft prospects and how Astros scouts had evaluated those players. Correa also observed how Astros’ analytics staff ranked college hitters and high school pitchers. In addition, he unlawfully accessed the Astros’ email system in order to enter ‘Ground Control,’ the team’s private online database.” He also went to great lengths to disguise his identity and his location so the Astros wouldn’t know that someone outside of their organization was perusing confidential information.”

Correa was fired by the Cardinals in 2015 and had pleaded guilty in January to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer. On Monday, he was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and he must pay $279,038 in restitution. He faced five years in prison on each count so 46 months is actually a light sentence compared to what he could have received. He will remain free until he has to report to federal prison, in two to six weeks.

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Before he was sentenced, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes allowed Correa to read a letter to the court. In it he expressed remorse and regret for what he had done, “I violated my values and it was wrong.” He also said, “The whole episode represents the worst thing I’ve done in my life by far.”

According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, Hughes made Correa face his family while he read the letter saying, “Look at them when you say that. Don’t tell me.” Hughes also interrupted Correa with his own descriptions of the defendant’s actions. At one point, Hughes even described Correa’s actions as stupid.

During his plea hearing in January, Correa had claimed that he accessed the database because he “suspected that the Astros possessed Cardinals proprietary information.” And on Monday, Judge Hughes brought it up again, but Correa for his part didn’t bite, and didn’t mention that part of the story in his apology letter.

Still, Hughes admonished Correa for his actions saying:

“[cybercrime] makes it harder for honest people to go about their daily lives, and I’m not talking about people like (Astros owner Jim Crane) and the big shots. A lot of peoples’ lives are adversely affected by the additional cost it takes to defend themselves against people like you.”

Now Major League Baseball, and commissioner Rob Manfred, will decide if the St. Louis Cardinals will have to face some sort of punishment because of Correa’s illegal activity. Also from the Chronicle: “Manfred also may be asked to consider a heretofore undisclosed element: that Correa intruded into the Astros’ system 60 times on 35 days, far more the five reported cases to which he pleaded guilty, according to an Astros official.”

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So just because Correa was sentenced and “dealt with,” doesn’t mean we’ve necessarily heard the last of this story.

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