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Ex-congressional IT aide accused of stealing 240 government phones and selling them at pawn shop

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Ex-congressional IT aide accused of stealing 240 government phones and selling them at pawn shop

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A former congressional IT aide is accused of abusing his trusted access to steal roughly 240 taxpayer-funded cellphones worth more than $150,000, shipping them to his Maryland home and selling most of them at a pawn shop, federal prosecutors say.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that Christopher Southerland, 43, of Glen Burnie, Md., was arrested and charged in a federal indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court, accusing him of stealing about 240 government-issued cellphones from the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to evidence reviewed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and her office, Southerland worked from about April 2020 through July 2023 as a system administrator for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

In that role, Southerland was authorized to order mobile devices for committee staff, prosecutors said, giving him direct access to the internal system used to procure government-issued phones.

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Federal prosecutors say a former House IT aide abused trusted access to steal and sell 240 government cellphones, a scheme uncovered after one device surfaced online. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

From January 2023 through May 2023, Southerland allegedly used that authority to order roughly 240 new cellphones and have them shipped directly to his home, despite the committee having only about 80 staff members at the time.

Prosecutors say Southerland later sold more than 200 of the phones to a nearby pawn shop, converting the government property into personal cash.

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Federal prosecutors say a former House IT aide abused trusted access to steal and sell 240 government cellphones to a pawn shop, a scheme uncovered after one device surfaced online. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

As part of the alleged scheme, Southerland instructed a pawn shop employee to sell the devices “in parts,” investigators say, a move designed to bypass the House’s mobile device management software, which allows officials to remotely monitor and secure government phones.

The scheme began to unravel when one of the stolen phones was sold intact rather than dismantled, according to prosecutors.

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Federal prosecutors say a former House IT aide’s alleged scheme to steal and sell 240 government cellphones was uncovered when a buyer purchased one on eBay. (iStock)

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That device ultimately ended up listed on eBay and was purchased by an uninvolved buyer. When the buyer powered on the phone for the first time, a contact number for the House of Representatives Technology Service Desk appeared on the screen, the DOJ said.

The buyer called the number, prompting House officials to investigate and discover that multiple phones ordered under Southerland’s account were unaccounted for, prosecutors said.

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The case is being investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Green for the District of Columbia, with assistance from other federal prosecutors.

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Boston, MA

2 men arrested after armed home invasion with shots fired in Saugus, police say

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2 men arrested after armed home invasion with shots fired in Saugus, police say


Gunshots were fired in a daytime armed home invasion in Saugus, Massachusetts, on Sunday, police say, and the two suspects are in custody.

No one was hurt in the shooting on Oakwood Avenue about noon, Saugus police said. Two Boston men, Derek Matarazzo and Timothy Gregory, are facing felony charges including home invasion after their arrest shortly after the 911 calls came in.

The calls reported two men in masks, dressed in black, armed with guns, breaking into a house, police said. They didn’t share what led to the gunfire or how the men were tracked down, saying only that the department wasn’t speculating on their motivation.

Matarazzo and Gregory are believed to be the only people directly involved in the home invasion, police said, and it’s believed to be an isolated incident, so there’s no danger to the public.

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Neighbors who spoke with NBC10 Boston say they are shaken up by what occurred, describing a shootout right outside their homes in the middle of the day.

Ring camera video from a nearby home shows the aftermath, as neighbors say you can see the homeowner running into the middle of the street with a phone pressed to his ear, desperately flagging down police — after the chaos.

A neighbor tells us his family first heard what sounded like a pop — something they thought could’ve been a lawn mower backfiring, until they realized it was gunfire. That neighbor says one of his daughters then saw a man carrying a safe — dropping it in their front yard — while shots were being fired.

“I saw somebody come out of the house shooting and then we all hit the deck, because you didn’t want a stray bullet to ricochet off something and come through the window or anything like that,” George Benn said.

“I saw the shots. I saw a man go down. I thought he was going to be dead but apparently he just flipped on that hill,” Tom Bushee said.

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The investigation is ongoing.



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Pittsburg, PA

Emotional 2026 Pittsburgh Marathon saw multiple new records set

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Emotional 2026 Pittsburgh Marathon saw multiple new records set


This year’s Pittsburgh Marathon is one for the record books. More than 52,000 runners crossed the finish line, with more than 300,000 spectators cheering them on.

“We’re welcoming people from around the world,” P3R CEO Troy Schooley said. “This event has turned into an international event for our city. We’re going to show it off today. The runners will run through 14 neighborhoods. We have 33 different countries represented today and all 50 states.”

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Mohammed El Youssfi claimed the men’s division of the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, crossing the finish line and immediately wrapping himself in the Moroccan flag.

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“This is my first time in Pittsburgh, but the special moment for me today is the people here cheering me on,” El Youssfi said. “That helped me to win the race.”

Emotions ran high for Pittsburgh’s very own Will Loevner. The Winchester Thurston graduate has run the Pittsburgh Marathon multiple times, finishing as the runner-up in 2024 and fifth in 2025. But in 2026, he took home top honors, crossing the finish line first at 2:14.

“I’ve now won the Philadelphia marathon, the Cleveland marathon twice,” Loevner said. “To win Pittsburgh, I feel like it was the trifecta and the most special one for me. I mean, being in the hometown, nothing even compares.”

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Buze Diriba Kejela is 2026’s women’s Pittsburgh Half Marathon champion, setting a course record for women and crossing the finish line at 1:08:39.

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“I’m happy to set the course record. I like it,” she said.

Before the runners crossed the start line, the handcyclists got a head start. Marshall Tempest of Monroeville came out on top in the Pittsburgh Marathon Handcycle Division, finishing at 1:40:16.

“I’ve done 13 Pittsburgh marathons, and this is my 5th time winning it, in a row,” he said. “It feels good. It was a rough one, but I was determined to get that 5th one.”

“I love running,” said Will Henry Lawrence, who ran the half-marathon. “I love being able to have breath in my lungs and let my feet hit the pavement. I had a stroke six years ago, and so I give all glory to God for being able to get out and exercise.”

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Tickets for the 2027 Pittsburgh Marathon are on sale for 48 hours, starting at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2026. You can register at thepittsburghmarathon.com

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Connecticut

Scammers use AI images of injured pets to target owners, Blumenthal warns Connecticut residents

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Scammers use AI images of injured pets to target owners, Blumenthal warns Connecticut residents


In a new and rapidly expanding scam, swindlers are using images generated by artificial intelligence to tap the wallets of desperate and heartbroken owners of lost pets.

In a press conference on Friday, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, warned state residents about a fraud that is becoming “more and more rampant.”

Scammers manipulate photos of lost pets posted by owners on social media to make it appear the animal has been hurt, according to media reports from around the nation. 

In Florida and Texas, for example, scammers have told owners of missing dogs that their pets were hit by cars, with an accompanying image of a dog that looks like theirs on a veterinarian’s operating table, WESH 2, a Hearst TV station affiliate in Florida, reported recently. The scammer then demands payment for the surgery.

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An urgent demand for money is a red flag, Blumenthal said, along with the claim that a lost pet has been hurt and images of an injured pet. The Federal Trade Commission, as the nation’s consumer protection agency, should issue a formal warning about the scam, the senator said.

Numerous reports of lost pet scams have surfaced recently, Popular Science reported in March, describing a few common scenarios, including the one in which the owner is sent an image of what appears to be their injured pet at a veterinary hospital and another, in which the owner is sent images of what appears to be their pet at a shelter, about to be euthanized. But, the article states, these images are false.

Other types of lost pet scams involve an offer of fake pet-finding services, according to the Better Business Bureau.

“You may receive a message from someone on social media about drone technology and search parties that can help you find your pet,” the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization reported. “The person will ask you for payment up front and will likely ask you to send it through a peer-to-peer payment app. Before paying for services, always search for the business on BBB.org or check BBB Scam Tracker.”

All types of cyber-scams have been proliferating in the nation, according to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report. Since the agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center was launched about 25 years ago, complaints have surged, the FBI reported, with a current average of about 3,000 complaints each day.

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In 2025, losses reported to the center continued to climb, surpassing $20 billion, the FBI reported. Investment-related fraud once again made up the largest part of the losses, followed by business email compromises and tech support scams, the agency reported.



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