A federal jury has found a former Apple worker guilty of threatening to harm FBI agents, following a brief trial. According to Kron4, court documents reveal that Brian Broderick, a previous Apple staff member, accused the company of espionage against him. During a medical leave, he dispatched numerous menacing emails to his colleagues, a situation confirmed by several workers who then notified the Santa Cruz police.
In 2021 and 2022, Broderick reached out to the FBI on various occasions to lodge complaints, including those against Apple. In response, Apple secured a three-year restraining order against him in December 2021.
The Santa Cruz Police Department suggested that Broderick was experiencing paranoia and was in the midst of a mental health crisis. To ensure safety, the SCPD acquired a gun violence restraining order against him and confiscated a firearm from his storage unit. Following up on Broderick's allegations in May 2022, he responded with increasingly aggressive and insulting emails towards the FBI's San Francisco Division agents.
In a June 2022 email, Broderick positioned himself as an "American who is actively pursuing a foolish traitor," issuing a 24-hour ultimatum to the agents to address his complaints against Apple, threatening, "or else I escalate beyond affecting your careers."
He also uploaded a video where he was seen monitoring an FBI facility.
Broderick is now at risk of a five-year prison sentence, with his sentencing hearing set for June 24.
In a separate incident, a former Apple parts and services buyer admitted guilt in November 2022 for defrauding Apple of over $17 million and received a three-year prison sentence plus an order to pay over $19 million in restitution.
Furthermore, in May 2023, the Department of Justice indicted another former engineer for allegedly attempting to pass Apple's self-driving car technology secrets to a Chinese company specializing in autonomous vehicles in 2018.