Former Auburn University staff member arrested, charged with leaking athletic trade secrets
AUBURN, Ala. (WAKA) – A former Auburn University employee has been arrested on charges that he stole trade secrets from the university’s athletic department and provided them to rivals.
Auburn police say they’ve arrested 24-year-old David Jenrath of Franklin, Tennessee, who is charged with theft of trade secrets and computer tampering.
Police say the arrest stems from an incident that occurred in the 300 block of South Donahue Drive, which is near the university’s athletic facilities. Police say a business reported that sensitive information was stolen from the business and distributed to its competitors. The business reported that one of its competitors received the information and turned it over to them.
According to the complaint filed in District Court of Lee County and obtained by Action 8 News, “The defendant, while employed by Auburn University, obtained and/or retained confidential proprietary information consisting of Auburn University Athletics information, and/or knowingly made a copy or reproduction of Auburn University Athletics trade secret and communicate or transmit a trade secret without the owner’s consent.”
A second complaint said that Jenrath took computer programs, data or supporting documentation from a computer system with the intent to disclose the trade secrets to Auburn’s opponents.
The complaints say the alleged offenses happened on or around July 19. They did not say which schools might have received the information.
ESPN reports that its sources say Jenrath allegedly sent material related to Auburn’s recruiting evaluations to multiple schools, but didn’t include NIL deals or playbooks. It says Jenrath’s LinkedIn profile, which has since been removed, says he worked in Auburn’s football program as a player personnel scouting assistant.
CBS Sports reports that Jenrath is accused of sharing Auburn’s recruiting plans with up to 11 other schools.
CBS Sports reports that Jenrath was retained by first-year coach Alex Golesh’s staff in January, but was fired in the spring. Jenrath allegedly used a pseudonym email address named “Don Julio” to share 10 documents containing personnel information on high school recruits Auburn had targeted for the classes of 2027, 2028 and 2029, sources told CBS Sports.
CBS Sports reports that Jenrath currently identifies himself on social media as a student studying sports analytics at the University of Tennessee, Auburn’s opponent this week.
Jenrath turned himself in to the Auburn Police Department. He was taken to the Lee County Jail where he is being held on a $15,000 bond.
