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 to his home in Glen Burnie from January 2023 to March 2023. At least 200 of those phones were allegedly 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.

The Banner reported that Southerland had the authority to order cellphones.

From January to March 2023, he ordered 240 cellphones to his home in Glen Burnie, prosecutors said. He allegedly sold at least 200 of those devices at a nearby pawn shop.

The Banner reported that there were only 80 employees of the committee during the time Southerland ordered more than 200 phones.

According to the Banner, the prosecutor said that Southerland told the pawn shop to sell the phones in parts to avoid "the House's mobile device management software, which enables the House to remotely secure and monitor its phones." 

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