Former Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss was indicted on Thursday in a case that accuses him of hacking into personal accounts of thousands of college athletes and stealing intimate photographs and videos.
Weiss is charged with 24 counts in all, which includes 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. He faces up to five years on each computer charge and two years on each theft charge.
The indictment says that Weiss gained access to a database of student-athletes at more than 100 colleges and universities and he is accused of downloading the personal information and medical data of more than 150,000 athletes and using that information to gain access to the social media accounts, emails and cloud storage of more than 3,000 athletes to download intimate photos and videos “that were never intended to be shared beyond intimate partners.”
“Our office will move aggressively to prosecute computer hacking to protect the private accounts of our citizens,” Acting U.S. Attorney Julie Beck said. “We stand ready with our law enforcement partners to bring those who illegally invade the privacy of others to justice.”
He was allegedly doing this from 2015-23, and he is accused of targeting primarily female college athletes, and allegedly would access the private accounts more than once.
“Months —and in some cases years —after he gained access to certain accounts, he returned to those accounts searching for additional photos and videos,” the indictment reads.
Weiss was suspended with pay by Michigan, but was officially fired by the university on Jan. 20, 2022.
“I have nothing but respect for the University of Michigan and the people who make it such a great place,” Weiss wrote on Twitter after he was fired. “I look forward to putting this matter behind me and returning my focus to the game that I love.”
Weiss was originally hired by former Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh in February 2021 as quarterbacks coach before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator.
