Overview
- A court filing unsealed in January shows Christopher Southerland was indicted last month and arrested last week on a federal embezzlement charge.
- Prosecutors allege the scheme ran from January to May 2023 while Southerland was the systems administrator for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
- Authorities say he had authority to order devices for about 80 staffers but redirected 240 new phones to his Glen Burnie, Maryland home.
- More than 200 phones were allegedly sold to a nearby pawn shop, with instructions to sell them in parts to defeat House device-management software.
- The case was triggered when an eBay buyer powered on a stolen phone displaying the House Technology Service Desk number; investigators value the phones at about $150,000, with U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI leading the probe and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuting.