A 42-year-old DOJ Civil Rights Division IT contractor admitted stealing and reselling thousands of government-issued cell phones. Investigators said he used his role to order phones the department did not need and then sold them to phone resellers for cash. Prosecutors estimated the scheme cost the government more than $1.3 million and generated roughly the same amount in personal payments to him. The operation ran from 2021 through 2025 and expanded after COVID-19 disrupted oversight. Court filings said another employee’s departure left him with full control of device management. Prosecutors said he submitted fake requests for phones and sold devices, including iPhone 15 lines, to resellers. He was sentenced to a little more than a year in federal prison and required to repay the money.
"Javan King, 42, of Laurel, Maryland, worked as an information technology contractor in the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. Investigators said he used that position to order phones the department did not actually need, then quietly sold them to phone resellers for cash. Prosecutors estimated the scheme cost the government more than $1.3 million and generated roughly the same amount in personal payments to King."
"According to prosecutors, the operation ran from 2021 through 2025 and expanded after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal oversight inside the department. Court filings said the departure of another employee left King with "full control of the device management process.""
"Investigators said King regularly submitted fake requests for government phones, claiming they were intended for incoming attorneys, political appointees, or newly hired employees. In one example highlighted by prosecutors, King requested 164 new iPhone 15 lines in June 2025, including 15 labeled only as "extra.""
"The Justice Department approved 163 of those phones through AT&T, and the devices were shipped by FedEx to King at DOJ offices in Washington, according to charging documents. Prosecutors said he then sold at least 162 of them to a Tennessee reseller for $170 ea"
#government-fraud #cell-phone-theft #federal-sentencing #procurement-and-device-management #gambling-and-money-laundering
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