Former NFL and College of Michigan assistant soccer coach Matt Weiss hacked into the pc accounts of hundreds of school athletes looking for intimate images and movies, in accordance with an indictment filed Thursday.
Weiss, who labored for the Baltimore Ravens earlier than becoming a member of the College of Michigan in 2021, was charged with 14 counts of unauthorized pc entry and 10 counts of identification theft.
The indictment was filed in federal courtroom in Detroit.
Weiss was fired in 2023 as Michigan’s co-offensive coordinator after failing to cooperate with the college’s investigation of his entry to computer systems.
Telephone and e mail messages looking for remark from his lawyer, Doug Mullkoff, weren’t instantly returned Thursday.
From 2015 to 2023, Weiss gained entry to databases of greater than 100 schools and universities that have been maintained by a third-party vendor, the indictment states. He then accessed the social media, e mail and cloud storage accounts of greater than 2,000 athletes, in accordance with the indictment.
“Weiss primarily focused feminine school athletes,” the indictment stated. “He researched and focused these ladies based mostly on their college affiliation, athletic historical past and bodily traits. His objective was to acquire non-public pictures and movies by no means supposed to be shared past intimate companions.”
After greater than a decade as an assistant coach with the Ravens, below coach John Harbaugh, Weiss moved to Michigan to work for Harbaugh’s brother, Jim.
It has been publicly identified for 2 years that Weiss was below scrutiny. His Ann Arbor dwelling was searched by police in January 2023, shortly earlier than he was fired. He stated on the time that he was cooperating and was wanting “ahead to the matter being resolved”.
Weiss’s preliminary courtroom look on the fees was not decided.
“Our workplace will transfer aggressively to prosecute pc hacking to guard the non-public accounts of our residents,” Julie Beck, the performing US lawyer in Detroit, stated of the indictment.
