Former Auburn Staffer Arrested, Accused of Sending Trade Secrets to Competitors

A former Auburn football staff member faces felony charges after being accused of stealing the Tigers’ trade secrets and distributing the information to competitors, according to court records. The allegations involve material connected to Auburn’s recruiting evaluations, sources told ESPN.

David Rudolph Jenrath, 24, turned himself in to authorities Monday. He was charged with theft of trade secrets and computer tampering, both of which are felony charges.

Jenrath is being held at the Lee County Jail in Auburn, Alabama, according to police. His bond was set at $15,000.

The Auburn Police Department addressed the case in a news release Tuesday. Police said a “business reported that sensitive information was stolen from the business and distributed to their competitors. The business reported that one of their competitors received the information and turned it over to them.”

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The police report did not identify the schools that allegedly received the information from Jenrath. A complaint alleges the incident occurred July 19 at the Auburn Athletics Complex.

Sources told ESPN on Tuesday that Jenrath allegedly sent recruiting evaluation material from Auburn to multiple schools. The sources did not identify those schools in the account provided.

The information allegedly sent by Jenrath did not include material related to Auburn’s name, image and likeness deals. It also did not include information concerning revenue sharing distributions or Auburn’s playbooks.

A source said Jenrath, who is from Franklin, Tennessee, was not employed full time as a member of the Auburn athletic department. His former position and duties were described on a LinkedIn profile that has since been removed from the service.

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The charging documents allege that Jenrath, while employed at Auburn, “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 secrets and communicate or transmit a secret without the owners’ consent.”

Jenrath is also accused of “disclosing, using, controlling or taking computer programs and data with the intent to harass Auburn University Athletics by disclosing trade secrets and transmitted those secrets without the owners’ consent.”

The allegations presented in the charging documents center on confidential Auburn University Athletics information, computer programs and data. The documents accuse Jenrath of transmitting secrets without the owners’ consent.

The police news release described how the matter was reported. According to that account, a competitor that received the sensitive information returned it to the business from which it allegedly had been taken.

No schools were named in the police report as alleged recipients of the information. ESPN’s sources said the recruiting evaluation material was sent to multiple schools, while also specifying the types of Auburn information that were not included.

Jenrath’s removed LinkedIn profile indicated that he worked in Auburn’s football program from January to June. The profile listed his position as a player personnel scouting assistant.

According to the profile, Jenrath helped Auburn evaluate running backs and special teams during his time with the football program. The source said he was not a full time member of the athletic department.

Jenrath attended Tennessee, where he studied sports analytics and applied artificial intelligence. He remains held on $15,000 bond at the Lee County Jail following the two felony charges.

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