A former federal Homeland Security agent was convicted last week of stealing a laptop computer that an air passenger had not collected in the baggage area at Memphis International Airport on December 20, 2010. Ricky German, 49, faces up to five years in federal prison for theft and unreasonable seizure of the $1,200 Apple Macbook laptop and of making false statements to federal investigators.
German, at the time was a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent and was later seen on security video taking the owners’ papers from the case and discarding them in the trash, according to an airport police affidavit. The video then depicts him taking the laptop upstairs and placing it under a vacant ticket count and then later wrapping it in his coat and taking it back downstairs.
COMMENT: The owner of the laptop said that he had asked German twice if anyone had turned in the laptop and that both times German said no, the affidavit stated. When German was told by airport police that security surveillance would be reviewed, German then put the coat and laptop down onto a bench and said he had found it. He will be sentenced in January 2012 by U.S. Dist. Court Judge Jon McCalla.
Travel tip: This case demonstrates the importance of travelers NOT placing valuables and particularly high-value electronics in checked luggage. The problem these days, given the redundancy of luggage screening, and the fact that too many hands are suspect, theft from luggage is more commonplace than it should be. This reality is influenced heavily by the fact that the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directs that all luggage be unlocked and subject to physical inspection.
German, at the time was a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent and was later seen on security video taking the owners’ papers from the case and discarding them in the trash, according to an airport police affidavit. The video then depicts him taking the laptop upstairs and placing it under a vacant ticket count and then later wrapping it in his coat and taking it back downstairs.
COMMENT: The owner of the laptop said that he had asked German twice if anyone had turned in the laptop and that both times German said no, the affidavit stated. When German was told by airport police that security surveillance would be reviewed, German then put the coat and laptop down onto a bench and said he had found it. He will be sentenced in January 2012 by U.S. Dist. Court Judge Jon McCalla.
Travel tip: This case demonstrates the importance of travelers NOT placing valuables and particularly high-value electronics in checked luggage. The problem these days, given the redundancy of luggage screening, and the fact that too many hands are suspect, theft from luggage is more commonplace than it should be. This reality is influenced heavily by the fact that the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) directs that all luggage be unlocked and subject to physical inspection.
