A notorious case got settled on July 27, 2026, setting a standard of how much Defendants’ are willing to pay for their illegal gangstalking of targeted individuals.
In 2019, David and Ina Steiner, the Massachusetts couple behind the EcommerceBytes newsletter/trade publication became targeted and gangstalked over their newsletter ecommercebytes.com’s coverage of eBay. Tactics included anonymous threats, surveillance, and disturbing packages/deliveries such as live insects (cockroaches/spiders), a bloody pig Halloween mask, a funeral wreath, a book on surviving a spouse’s death, and other items, along with efforts like doxxing-style actions and plans involving tracking.
The intense harassment lasted approximately one month. Official charging documents, the Department of Justice’s statements of facts, and eBay’s deferred prosecution agreement describe the core harassment and intimidation campaign as running from about August 5, 2019, to at least September 6, 2019 even though as early as June 2019 they documented incidents such as graffiti on the Steiners’ fence.
The Steiners were able to identify the license plate of a car doing surveillance on them. Their local police traced it to a rented car by someone affiliated to Ebay. From there, the investigation took off.
In 2021, the Steiners filed a lawsuit against the company and executives. Steiner v. eBay Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Case No. 1:21-cv-11181 (also cited as Civil Action No. 21-cv-11181-PBS). They sued under diversity jurisdiction (plaintiffs and Defendants’ residing in different states) and under the RICO Act.
On July 27, 2026 Plaintiffs entered into a settlement with defendants that provided for the following:
The plaintiffs will receive $48.7 million in compensation, including $46.15 million from eBay, $2 million from former eBay executive CEO Devin Wenig, $500,000 from former eBay executive Wendy Jones, and $50,000 from former eBay executive Steve Wymer. Additional sums will be destined to charity.
eBay will issue a strongly-worded public statement regarding the conduct of former eBay CEO Devin Wenig and former eBay executives Steve Wymer and Wendy Jones in connection with the events occurring in Natick, MA and the culture of the company in 2019.
The settlement contains no confidentiality provision, allowing the Steiners to publicly discuss the facts of the case and its resolution.
Additional and separate settlements were reached with all other eBay employees named in the civil action.
Even though the criminals perpetrators wanted to force them into a confidentiality agreement, the plaintiffs refused. As they told WIred Magazine (link above):
“From day one, that was a dealbreaker,” says Chris Murphy, an attorney for the Steiners at the personal injury firm Scalli Murphy Law in Everett, Massachusetts. “As journalists, and as victims, the Steiners were very clear that they wanted everyone to see and understand what eBay did to them. And from day one, they were ready to go to trial over it.”
Thanks to the courageous Steiners and their honorable attorneys, our community has a solid reference to: a) prove gangstalking is real and 2) set a threshold value for the horrible pain, suffering and trauma that this illegal activity causes on its victims.
CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST THE PERPS
The United States Department of Justice, through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, indicted former eBay employees Jim Baugh, David Harville, Brian Gilbert, Stephanie Popp, Stephanie Stockwell, Philip Cooke, and former eBay contractor Veronica Zea.
Most perps were charged under these statutes, serving an average of twelve months in prison:
18 U.S.C. § 371- CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT CYBERSTALKING
18 U.S.C. § 371- CONSPIRACY TO TAMPER WITH A WITNESS
The really bad guys’ (Former FBI and CIA contractor James Baugh and David Harville) indictments including the following charges:
18 U.S.C. § 371 - CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT STALKING THROUGH TRAVEL AND THROUGH FACILITIES OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE
18 U.S.C. § 2261A(1)(B) and 2 - STALKING THROUGH INTERSTATE TRAVEL; AIDING AND ABETTING
18 U.S.C. §§ 2261A(2)(B) and 2 - STALKING THROUGH FACILITIES OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE; AIDING AND ABETTING
18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(b)(3) and 2 - WITNESS TAMPERING; AIDING AND ABETTING
18 U.S.C. §§ 1519 and 2 - DESTRUCTION, ALTERATION AND FALSIFICATION OF RECORDS IN A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION; AIDING AND ABETTING
The main criminal, Baugh, (pictured above) was sentenced as follows: 57 Month Imprisonment; $900 Special Assessment; $40,000 Fine-interest waived; 2 Years Supervised Release, Standard & Special Conditions.
It should not come as a surprise that in court filings during the criminal case, Baugh’s lawyers asserted that, while working as a private security contractor (roughly 2014–2018) for the government, he had collaborated with an FBI handler on covert/clandestine operations. These allegedly involved physical and electronic surveillance, false pretenses, fake identities, and related tactics. He also claimed prior service with the CIA’s National Clandestine Service and continued assistance to both the CIA and FBI in a contractor capacity.
Co-conspirator Harville, Baugh’s underling, was sentenced as follows: Sentence Imposed: 24 Months Imprisonment; 2 Years Supervised Release; $20,000 Fine; $500 Special Assessment; Standard and Special Conditions of Supervised Release. He had a military background and was a yes-man.
These are the related criminal case numbers for all those indicted:
Each ultimately pleaded guilty for their roles in the terror campaign.
eBay itself was also criminally charged and entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to pay the maximum available criminal fine of $3 million and undertake serious corrective action.
THE CONFESSION
In his sentencing memorandum, Baugh stated the following:
“Rather, from his cubicle adjacent to the private offices in the insular, high-pressure environment of a Silicon Valley C-Suite, Mr. Baugh was convinced to view the Steiners (wrongly, he recognizes in hindsight) not as journalists but as dangerous “trolls” who posed an existential threat to the company and even to the physical safety of its employees. Mr. Baugh faced intense, relentless pressure from multiple executives (who have evaded criminal responsibility), including the CEO Devin Wenig, SVP Steve Wymer, COO Wendy Jones, and General Counsel Marie Huber, to do something, anything, about the “threat” which, they knew and told Mr. Baugh repeatedly, could not be solved through ordinary “lawyer” tools.”
“Indeed, reflecting a toxic culture that goes to the very top of many powerful technology companies, senior eBay executives hired Mr. Baugh precisely because of his prior experience as a government security professional with a demonstrated ability to solve difficult problems through unconventional means. See, e.g., Kate Conger, Uber Survived the Spying Scandal. Some Careers Didn’t, NEW YORK TIMES (Nov. 28, 2021) (quoting former CIA officer employed by Uber: “In the government, when you’re given a mission or you’re given a task, you go and you execute on the mission . . . . Your experience tells you to go execute because your boss or the leadership have given you this task, and you worry about how to do it — not whether or not you should do it, because you’ve never had to worry about that before.”
Baughn was convinced that the Steiners were a “threat” that had to be neutralized through a terror campaign. He actually believed they were bad people.
Just like our gangstalkers.
THE BEST PART
Defendant Ebay was forced into a humiliation ritual having to publicly acknowledge its malfeasance and apologize to the Steiners. Here’s the best part of the public apology:
“As we have long stated, what the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened. We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the employees who perpetrated and pled guilty to criminal charges for the misconduct against Ina and David Steiner. We also acknowledge the unprofessional tone in internal communications demonstrated, to different degrees and number, by Mr. Wenig, Mr. Wymer, and Ms. Jones.
We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners. This agreement is consistent with our commitment to fairly compensate the Steiners and fulfills our efforts to make things right.”
SETTLEMENT
Since the settlement document was not filed with the court, I will speculate that the $48.7 million dollars’ compensation to the Steiners, divided by two, ($24.35 million each) is for the documented month of cruel, overt gangstalking.
This is a HUGE event for our community. For one, this settlement does away with the notion that gangstalking is not real, and a “paranoid delusion”” as the criminals have made the mockingbird press and even AI such as Grok repeat.
For another, the assigning of a VALUE that criminals are willing to pay for perpetrating such gangstalking harm for a period of about a month sets an important standard.
I personally think that the Steiners were targeted by the FBI criminals but since their local police department started the investigation and discovered evidence of the malfeasance, the FBI could not cover it up. Instead, they collaborated with the investigation and threw Baugh and his accomplices under the bus, indicting them all.
THIS SHOULD BE A LOUD AND CLEAR MESSAGE TO ALL PERPS OUT THERE THAT THE GOVERNMENT CRIMINALS WILL NOT HESITATE IN HARMING THEM FOR THE CRIMES THEY HAD THEM CARRY OUT.
When Baugh tried to expose the government criminals by including a letter in his sentencing memorandum filed in the civil case, the Department of Justice immediately moved to have it sealed.
The United States intervened in the civil case and moved to SEAL a letter that Mr. Baugh attached to his Sentencing Memorandum and that the Steiners had included as an exhibit to one of their motions.
(We know why).
CALL TO ACTION
Share this article far and wide. Print it out, and deliver it to your local Fusion Center.
Take it to the Police, Firemen, and Sheriffs’ Offices along with the Police Flyer available in the Targeted Justice website.
After all, they will be next.
The entire targeted community is indebted to Ina and David Steiner for this monumental exposure and triumph. May God bless them and grant them a long life to enjoy their victory.
This is an excellent, well-written post. I have but one disagreement: I am certain that every one of my innumerable gangstalkers is perfectly well aware that every single thing she or he does to me, or to my property, or to my family and their properties and their pets, etc. (including spectacular arsons, vehicular assaults, and literally countless other criminal events) is absolutely illegal and morally wrong in the highest possible degree. They perform their heinous, criminal actions for the money they are paid, not for any sort of belief that what they do is praiseworthy or justified in any way.
One month of harassment does not constitute Gang Stalking or any Targeting that the rest of us deal with...