NORFOLK -
A judge today sentenced a former TSA agent to six months in jail for
stealing $500 cash from a passenger at Norfolk international Airport.
Circuit Court Judge
Charles Poston sent TSA supervisor John Irwin to jail for taking money
from a screening tray while the passenger was being searched. Irwin, 60,
had pleaded guilty to grand larceny.
The theft occurred during a
passenger screening at Norfolk International Airport, according to
stipulation of facts filed with the court.
The victim, a
passenger from New York, was flying from Norfolk on Nov. 16, 2011. The
passenger told a TSA agent that he had a medical condition and needed to
be patted down, the report says.
The man emptied his pockets,
setting an ink pen and $520 cash in the gray bin. An agent told the
passenger he needed additional screening. The passenger objected but
followed the agent to a private area, the report states.
Irwin
took the pen and money from the bin and put it into a drawer, the report
says. When the passenger returned and asked about his money, Irwin said
he hadn’t seen or heard anything about it. The passenger reported the
incident to Norfolk airport police, the report says.
When the
passenger returned, Irwin noticed it was the man who gave his fellow
employees a “hard time,” the report says. “I just didn’t let on that I
had the money,” Irwin told police.
In court, defense attorney
Michael Davis argued that Irwin was stressed by family and financial
problems and had a rare lapse of judgment. Davis said his client worked
at TSA for 13 years and had no criminal record. Irwin apologized in
court.
But prosecutor Suzanne Richmond told the judge that Irwin
was in uniform when he stole the money. She said that Irwin told
investigators that he was mad at the passenger for complaining about the
additional screening. “This is not a normal case,” she said.
Article and reaction/comments: http://hamptonroads.com
http://www.norfolkairport.com
http://www.airnav.com/airport/ORF
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment