HOUSTON (AP) – The former scouting director for the St. Louis Cardinals pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to hacking into the player database and email system of the Houston Astros in an unusual case of high-tech cheating involving two Major League Baseball clubs.
Christopher Correa pleaded guilty to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer, access authorities said dated from 2013 to at least 2014. The 35-year-old Correa was the Cardinals’ director of baseball development until he was fired last summer, and he faces up to five years in prison on each charge when he is sentenced April 11.
“I accept responsibility in this case,” Correa told U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes. “I trespassed repeatedly.”
“So you broke in their house,” Hughes told Correa, referring to the Astros.
“It was stupid,” replied Correa, who is free on $20,000 bond.