GovernmentExecutive.com

Three former Transportation Security Administration employees have admitted to stealing high-priced knives and tools confiscated from passengers during pre-flight screening processing.

Marvin K. Lyons, 63; Darryl Price, 23; and Ernest J. Hogan, 44, all pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges relating to the theft of government property this month in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. All three are residents of Pierce County, Washington, and were fired from TSA, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.

The men worked in the maintenance area of Sea-Tac International Airport where confiscated items, such as tools, knives and other potentially dangerous objects, were stored. After stealing the items, Price sold some of them on the online auction house eBay. Items confiscated by TSA are considered government property.

Price was sentenced to two years' probation on Sept. 16, and Hogan and Lyons face their sentencing in December.

Busted

A former Internal Revenue Service employee received a 46-month prison sentence for downloading child pornography on his agency computer in Dallas.

Matthew Sandlin, 29, of Rockwell, Texas, pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing child pornography after the IRS' computer security section discovered potential access to child pornography on his computer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas.

A few days later, an IRS computer investigative specialist found more than 600 images of child pornography on Sandlin's government computer. In all, 2,378 images of child pornography and 19 movies were found.

Sandlin will not be eligible for parole.

COMMENTS

• While we're on the subject, how about all of the upper management, SESers in HQ who funnel funds from one agency or program to another under the guise of "strategic spending"? No new vehicles, computers, T-1 lines for new offices so agents can do their jobs, and the list goes on. Hey, there's always plenty to be found when a priority SAC Conference needs to take place (always seems to be in some garden spot like Hilton Head, SC or some place like Baltimore where you can get a deluxe suite, hot tub, and open bar). I loath seeing money thrown at glorified golf retreats and a bunch of high level dweebs conjuring up policy and procedure on issues they have no clue about because they don't have the experience to bring to the table in the first place. Sounds criminal to me! GovExec.com reader Posted October 4, 2005 9:00 AM
• The child pornographer needs more than just a prison sentence. He needs psychiatric attention. How insane do you have to be to not realize that your government computer is networked into a government mainframe and most of those mainframe computers have software that screens for porn of any sort. It's hard to believe that someone would think that they won't be caught. Once or twice might be overlooked but, hundreds of downloads. That's just nuts. I have seen government workers, including managers, waste countless hours playing computer games like solitare or minesweeper. I have seen them plan parties and send out and receive countless non-work related Emails. While personal computers have in some ways made it easier to do many jobs, they have also been so poorly managed that they contribute to huge amounts of lost man hours in the federal government. Poor planning strikes again. Robert M. Posted September 30, 2005 11:15 PM