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A former congressional IT aide is accused of abusing his trusted access to steal roughly 240 taxpayer-funded cellphones worth more than $150,000, shipping them to his Maryland home and selling most of them at a pawn shop, federal prosecutors say.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that Christopher Southerland, 43, of Glen Burnie, Md., was arrested and charged in a federal indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court, accusing him of stealing about 240 government-issued cellphones from the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to evidence reviewed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and her office, Southerland worked from about April 2020 through July 2023 as a system administrator for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
In that role, Southerland was authorized to order mobile devices for committee staff, prosecutors said, giving him direct access to the internal system used to procure government-issued phones.
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Federal prosecutors say a former House IT aide abused trusted access to steal and sell 240 government cellphones, a scheme uncovered after one device surfaced online. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
From January 2023 through May 2023, Southerland allegedly used that authority to order roughly 240 new cellphones and have them shipped directly to his home, despite the committee having only about 80 staff members at the time.
Prosecutors say Southerland later sold more than 200 of the phones to a nearby pawn shop, converting the government property into personal cash.
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Federal prosecutors say a former House IT aide abused trusted access to steal and sell 240 government cellphones to a pawn shop, a scheme uncovered after one device surfaced online. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
As part of the alleged scheme, Southerland instructed a pawn shop employee to sell the devices “in parts,” investigators say, a move designed to bypass the House’s mobile device management software, which allows officials to remotely monitor and secure government phones.
The scheme began to unravel when one of the stolen phones was sold intact rather than dismantled, according to prosecutors.
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Federal prosecutors say a former House IT aide’s alleged scheme to steal and sell 240 government cellphones was uncovered when a buyer purchased one on eBay. (iStock)
That device ultimately ended up listed on eBay and was purchased by an uninvolved buyer. When the buyer powered on the phone for the first time, a contact number for the House of Representatives Technology Service Desk appeared on the screen, the DOJ said.
The buyer called the number, prompting House officials to investigate and discover that multiple phones ordered under Southerland’s account were unaccounted for, prosecutors said.
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The case is being investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Green for the District of Columbia, with assistance from other federal prosecutors.