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Charges recommended against Cardinals employee in alleged computer hack

Federal investigators have recommended charges be brought against at least one St. Louis Cardinals employee implicated in the probe of an alleged computer intrusion of databases belonging to the Houston Astros, according to a report from CNN.

Per the CNN report, the investigation is complete. It is not immediately clear which employee was in line to be charged or how high up the Cardinals' hierarchy that employee might be, but it's apparent they've pinpointed at least one individual's involvement.

Here's more from the CNN story:

The probe by investigators at the FBI's Houston office is complete, according to officials briefed on the matter, but is awaiting action by the Houston U.S. attorney's office. A U.S. attorney spokeswoman didn't respond to a request for comment.

The FBI's Houston office declined to comment on pending charges.

"The FBI aggressively investigates all potential threats to public and private sector systems," FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said. "Once our investigations are complete, we pursue all appropriate avenues to hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace."

As we learned Thursday, Chris Correa, the Cardinals' scouting director, was fired by the club following an imposed leave of absence. The team refused to connect Correa's firing to the ongoing hacking scandal, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed it has sources saying Correa was responsible for breaching an Astros database.

That would seemingly position Correa as the employee in question, but until that's confirmed or denied we're left with the same questions and the same uncertain answers.

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Correa’s attorney responded on Thursday, saying his client did nothing illegal and sought only to assess whether Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow had taken proprietary information from the Cardinals when he departed for Houston. That may ultimately be true of Correa's role, but it's difficult to imagine that reasoning being justifiable.  

Officials looking into the computer breach were also known to be focusing on whether senior officials with the Cardinals were aware of the spying. Club chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. and GM John Mozeliak have both continued to deny any knowledge or involvement.

The plot thickens, though at least it would appear we're on the verge of pinpointing the key suspect and analyzing what this means for the Cardinals organization.  

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!