Live spiders, cockroaches delivered in ‘bizarre’ harassment

A former eBay Inc. executive was sentenced yesterday to almost five years in prison for leading a scheme to terrorise the creators of an online newsletter that included sending live spiders, cockroaches, a funeral wreath and other disturbing deliveries to their home. David Steiner, who along with his wife was the target of the harassment campaign, told the court that eBay former Senior Director of Safety and Security James Baugh and other eBay employees made their lives ‘‘a living hell’’. He expressed fear that other companies would use it as a blueprint to go after journalists in the future. ‘‘This was a bizarre, premeditated assault on our lives . . . with buy-in at the highest levels of eBay,’’ Steiner told the judge.