A former congressional staffer from Glen Burnie, Maryland, is accused of stealing 240 government cellphones from the U.S. House of Representatives.
Christopher Southerland, 43, was arrested earlier this month and charged with stealing cellphones worth more than $150,000, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office.
Southerland was a system administrator for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure from April 2020 until July 2023 and had the power to order the devices for staff members of the committee.
According to prosecutors, Southerland used his government position to order the devices and have them shipped to his Maryland home. He allegedly sold more than 200 of those phones to a local pawn shop.
At the time of the alleged thefts, there were only 80 members who worked on the committee.
Southerland told a worker at the pawn shop to sell the phones in parts to get around the government software that remotely detects its phones, prosecutors said.
Authorities were made aware of his scheme after one of the stolen phones was purchased off eBay. When the person who bought the phone turned it on, prosecutors said it showed the phone number of the House of Representatives Technology Service Desk.
The person who bought the device called the number, and other House employees then learned that phones bought by Southerland were unaccounted for, prosecutors said.
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