Former Cardinals scouting director jailed for hacking Astros' player database

• Christopher Correa sentenced to nearly four years in prison
• St Louis chairman blamed incident on 'roguish behavior'

A federal judge sentenced the former scouting director of the St Louis Cardinals to nearly four years in prison on Monday for hacking the Houston Astros' player personnel database and email system in an unusual case of high-tech cheating involving two Major League Baseball clubs.

Christopher Correa had pleaded guilty in January to five counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer from 2013 to at least 2014, the same year he was promoted to director of baseball development in St Louis. He was fired last summer and now faces 46 months behind bars and a court order to pay $279,038 in restitution. He had faced up to five years in prison on each count.