Two TSA Agents Sentenced To Jail For Theft

Theft from airline luggage seems to be a growing problem, and has sparked a number of recent complaints to ConsumerAffairs.com.

"I was flying from West Palm Beach to Savannah with a connection in Atlanta," Chris, of Atlanta, Ga., told ConsumerAffairs.com. "When I landed in Savannah, my checked luggage bag come out opened with items hanging out of the side. No TSA search memo inside, just opened. My Touchpad had been stolen from the bag."

Recently, someone flying through New York's JFK Airport lost something a bit more valuable - $40,000 in cash. This week Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced that two men, formerly employed as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers based at JFK have been sentenced to jail.

Third-degree larceny

Brown said the men pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny and other charges for having removed $40,000 in cash from a piece of checked baggage.

“The defendants who have admitted their guilt, acknowledging that they used their positions of trust to unjustly enrich themselves, have been held accountable for their actions," Brown said. "Passengers must feel secure when they pass through our airports here in Queens County and know that they are not being targeted by those who would use their position of authority to steal their possessions.”

How it worked

According to the DA, last October one of the men was scanning a piece of luggage when he noticed what appeared to be a bag of United States currency inside the bag. Shortly thereafter, he phoned the second man, who was in a baggage belt area of American Airlines, and told him about the bag with the currency.

The man searched the bag and marked it with tape, then notified friend that there was indeed money in the bag. The first TSA agent then swiped an identification card and entered the baggage handling system area, found the bag wrapped in tape, and observed what appeared to be approximately $170,000 in the bag. He then took some money from the bag and placed it into a box that he took to a nearby bathroom. The pair later met in the bathroom and each took money from the box and hid it in their clothing, according to Brown.

The men later admitted to stealing the money and they gave Port Authority police officers permission to search their homes, where the money was recovered, prosecutors said.