Former congressional staffer from Maryland accused of stealing 240 government phones

A former congressional staffer from Anne Arundel County is accused of stealing and selling 240 government cellphones, according to our media partner, The Baltimore Banner.

Christopher Southerland, 43, from Glen Burnie, was indicted in a federal court on a charge of theft of government property. According to the Banner, Southerland was indicted in October and his charging document was unsealed last Thursday.

According to the Banner, Southerland ordered 240 cellphones sent to his home in Glen Burnie between January 2023 and March 2023. At least 200 of those phones were allegedly then sold at a pawn shop.

Southerland was employed as a system administrator for the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure from 2020 to 2023, the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. said. According to the Banner, in that role, he had the authority to order cellphones.

However, there were only 80 employees of the committee during the time Southerland ordered more than 200 phones, according to the Banner.

Prosecutors allege that Southerland told the pawn shop to sell the phones in parts to avoid government software that can remotely monitor its phones, the Banner reported.

Investigators first learned of Southerland's alleged scheme when one of the phones he pawned was sold whole on eBay, according to the Banner.