It wasn’t so long ago that you might well wonder why anyone would bother to hack into the Houston Astros’ computer network, but (outdated) jokes aside, former St. Louis scouting director Chris Correa was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison yesterday, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Doug Moore details :
Chris Correa pleaded guilty in January to five counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer. As part of his plea, Correa admitted to using the accounts of three Astros employees to view scouting reports, amateur player evaluations, notes on trade discussions and proposed bonuses for draft picks. The information he accessed was given an estimated value of $1.7 million by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Correa, 36, also admitted taking measures to conceal his identity. The sentence includes two years of supervised release and restitution payment of $279,038.65. He will remain free until he is to report to prison, in two to six weeks.
With the Correa case completed, the focus turns to what action Major League Baseball might take against the Cardinals. The team could face stiff penalties. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has broad powers to assess fines, limit draft spending, or confiscate draft picks.