• American couple reaches settlement after bizarre harassment campaign
• Incidents included anonymous deliveries, live insects, and threatening notes

An American couple from Massachusetts has reached a legal settlement with a delivery company after being targeted by a series of unusual threats and mysterious deliveries, which included live insects, a funeral wreath, and a bloody pig mask during Halloween.

The couple filed a federal lawsuit in Boston in 2021, claiming the company was involved in a conspiracy to “intimidate, threaten with death, torture, harass, scare, and silence them” to halt their reporting on the company.

The couple, residents of Natick who run an e-commerce newsletter, said they were subjected to cyberstalking, death threats, and personal surveillance by former company employees.

Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Boston federal judge Patti Saris closed the case after the settlement, allowing it to be reopened within 60 days if the agreement was not finalized.

The company said it had no additional comment on the ruling, noting that “the behavior of some former employees was wrong” and that it would take steps to address what the couple experienced.

In 2020, federal prosecutors charged seven former employees with coordinating a harassment campaign against the couple after their newsletter coverage angered the staff. Most pleaded guilty to conspiracy and cyberstalking and received prison or home confinement sentences.

In 2024, the company agreed to pay a $3 million criminal fine under a deferred prosecution agreement with federal authorities.

The harassment reportedly included sending live cockroaches and spiders, a funeral wreath, and a bloody pig mask to the couple’s home.