Ex-Michigan Assistant Coach Seen on Camera Before Allegedly Hacking Explicit Student Files
The controversy surrounding the University of Michigan football program is not limited to former head coach Sherrone Moore.
Federal prosecutors say they had dozens of videos of former Michigan offensive assistant coach Matt Weiss in three offices at the team’s football facilities before hacking into students’ personal accounts, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit.
Weiss is accused of stealing private photos and videos of 3,300 students – the majority women – at more than 100 universities across the country. Weiss was charged with 14 counts of unauthorized access and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft on March 20.
However, Weiss’ lawyers recently filed two motions to have the charges dropped due to questions about the constitutionality of how the evidence against their client was collected.
Specifically, attorneys question whether the warrants executed by the University of Michigan Police Department were constitutional; they also have problems with the discovery of evidence in the FBI investigation.
For their part, the federal government emphasizes that Weiss’ legal team is challenging the process and not the charges.
“Weiss does not directly challenge the FBI’s federal warrant,” the government filing states. “He does not claim that the affidavit for this warrant lacked probable cause. He does not claim that this warrant was overly broad or lacked specificity. And he does not – and cannot – claim that the federal warrant contained information obtained by UMPD during its search of devices pursuant to the warrants challenged by Weiss.”
Weiss doesn’t just face charges from federal prosecutors. A group of 70 women are suing the former coach in civil court for stealing their private photos from their accounts.
Michigan fired Weiss in February 2023 after allegations against him surfaced.
