A former congressional IT aide has been arrested and charged with stealing nearly 240 government-issued cellphones valued at over $150,000, and selling most of them at a local pawn shop.

Christopher Southerland, 43, from Glen Burnie, Maryland, is accused of abusing his trusted position as a system administrator for the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Federal prosecutors say Southerland worked in this role from April 2020 through July 2023, where he was authorized to order mobile devices for committee staff.

Between January and May of this year, Southerland allegedly exploited this authority to order around 240 new phones—despite the committee having only about 80 staff members—and had them shipped directly to his home.

Prosecutors say Southerland then sold over 200 of these taxpayer-funded phones at a nearby pawn shop, converting government property into personal cash. To avoid detection, he instructed the pawn shop to dismantle the phones and sell them in parts, bypassing the House’s mobile device management software designed to remotely monitor and secure official devices.

The scheme started to unravel when one intact phone was sold instead of being broken down. This phone appeared on eBay and was purchased by an unsuspecting buyer. When the buyer powered on the device, a contact number for the House of Representatives Technology Service Desk was displayed on the screen. The buyer called the number, alerting officials.

House authorities launched an investigation and discovered multiple phones ordered under Southerland’s account were missing. The case is now being investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI.

Prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Green in the District of Columbia, with support from other federal prosecutors.

We will keep you updated on any new developments in this case.

Reporting by Kathy Moore.