Thousands of intimate images found in hacking investigation, seized from ex-Ravens coach
DETROIT โ Investigators have seized thousands of intimate photos and videos from aย former Baltimore Ravensย and University of Michigan assistant football coach who isย charged with hackingย into the computer accounts of college athletes, the U.S. Justice Department told victims.
The disclosure came in a court filing Tuesday in a lawsuit againstย Matt Weissย and the university. Lawyers for victims included an email that was sent by the government after he was indicted in March.
Weiss got access to the social media, email and cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 athletes, as well as more than 1,300 students or alumni from schools across the U.S., in an effort to find private images, primarily of women, according to the indictment.
The email further describes and quantifies what was found by investigators.
โThousands of candid, intimate photographs and videos have been seized from the defendantโs electronic devices and from his cloud storage accounts. Many show victims naked. Some show victims engaged in explicit sexual acts,โ the Justice Departmentโs Mega Victim Case Assistance Program said.
Weiss hasย pleaded not guiltyย to identity theft and unauthorized computer access, from 2015 to 2023. He and his lawyer have refused to comment about the case.
Near the end of the alleged scheme, Weiss was Michiganโs co-offensive coordinator in 2022 when the Wolverines finished 13-1 and played in the College Football Playoff. He wasย fired in 2023ย during an investigation of his computer use. He had earlier spent more than a decade with the NFLโs Baltimore Ravens.
Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, who was Weissโ boss at Michigan, called the allegations โshocking.โ His brother, John Harbaugh, coach of the Ravens, used the same word when talking to reporters at the NFLโs annual spring meeting.
Parker Stinar, a lawyer who has filed one of many lawsuits against Weiss, the university and an outside technology vendor, wants a judge to order them to start turning over evidence of what happened. The university has not commented on the lawsuits and has weeks to formally respond in federal court.