Former Michigan and Baltimore Ravens assistant coach Matthew Weiss officially pleaded not guilty in federal court on Monday after he was charged with 24 counts of unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft.
Weiss allegedly was hacking into accounts of thousands of college athletes and students across the country for years, largely in an effort to view personal and intimate photos and videos. The 42-year-old was released on bond on Monday, according to ESPN's Dan Wetzel, after his hearing in a Detroit federal court.
A pair of former Michigan athletes also filed a lawsuit against both Weiss and the university, among others, on Friday. As they are just a few of the potentially thousands of athletes involved in the scandal, the two asked the court to grant class-action status for their lawsuit, according to the Detroit Free Press. The students are seeking a judgement of more than $100 million.
"The regents and the university recklessly exposed plaintiffs to a dangerous predator, Weiss, knowing he could cause serious damage by sexually harassing female students, and also by violating their rights to privacy," the lawsuit states.
Weiss allegedly started hacking into the accounts in 2015, when he was an assistant with the Ravens. He was then hired as Michigan’s quarterback coach in 2021. The Wolverines were led by head coach Jim Harbaugh, the brother of Ravens coach Jim Harbaugh.
Weiss was fired in January 2023 for alleged computer access crimes, which the FBI launched an investigation into. Then earlier this month, Weiss was charged with 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Weiss targeted female athletes while he was working at Michigan and “researched and targeted these women based on their school affiliation, athletic history and physical characteristics.” He allegedly kept notes about physical appearances and characteristics of the women, and he downloaded the passwords they used for their accounts through a third-party vendor. Weiss also allegedly researched personal information of the women so he could guess or reset their passwords.
Weiss was also accused of repeatedly accessing accounts months or years after he first gained access to look for new photos and videos.
He was placed on leave in December 2022 after he was first accused of illegal activities at the team’s football facility. He was then fired a month later after he didn’t attend a meeting with school officials about the allegations.
Weiss, according to ESPN, is facing up to five years and a $250,000 fine for each of the 14 counts of unauthorized access, and an additional two years on the 10 other charges.
