In WASHINGTON, authorities have arrested a former U.S. House staff member on charges of allegedly pilfering government cellphones worth approximately $150,000. This arrest was announced by federal prosecutors on Monday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, led by Jeanine Pirro, stated that Christopher Southerland, age 43, had been serving as an administrator for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Southerland held this role from April 2020 until his departure in July 2023, during which he was responsible for procuring cellphones for committee staff.

Prosecutors report that between January and May 2023, Southerland exploited his position to have 240 government cellphones delivered to his home in Maryland. This was despite the committee having only around 80 staff members at that time.

Southerland now faces allegations of selling over 200 of these phones to a local pawn shop, according to the charges brought against him.

Court documents show Southerland was indicted last month on a charge that he “willfully and knowingly embezzled, stole and converted to his own use cellular telephones” that belonged to the government. He was arrested last week.

Federal officials accused Southerland of directing an employee at the pawn shop to sell the phone “in parts” only to bypass the U.S. House’s mobile device management software, which “enables the House to remotely secure and monitor its phones.”

The alleged scheme was first discovered when one of the phones that Southerland is accused of stealing was sold in its entirety on eBay. When the buyer first turned on the phone, it displayed a phone number for the House of Representatives Technology Service Desk.  

The buyer then called that number, and congressional employees discovered that several phones purchased by Southerland were unaccounted for.