Thread: TSA agents steal $40,000 from passenger luggage; sentenced to only five months in pri

TSA agents steal $40,000 from passenger luggage; sentenced to only five months in prison

Saturday, January 14, 2012 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Any normal person found guilty of stealing $40,000 from, say, a bank or an employer, would likely be sentenced to at least five years of prison. But when you work for the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), you can expect to be given special legal treatment and sent on your way.

The Associated Press reports that two former TSA screeners, 44-year-old Coumar Persad and 31-year-old Davon Webb, both of which worked at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, have pleaded guilty to grand larceny, obstructing governmental administration, and official misconduct, for stealing nearly $40,000 from an airport traveler's luggage. But rather than receive a normal prison sentence for such crimes, the two were sentenced to just six months in prison with five years of probation.

Reports indicate that Persad, who was an X-ray luggage screener at the time, had spotted the wad of cash in a suitcase while monitoring the X-ray screen. He reportedly then contacted Webb, who worked in another baggage area, to watch for the bag and mark it with special tape. Persad later intercepted the bag in another baggage handling area, and proceeded to open it up and take the cash.

All in all, the two thieves snagged $39,980, which was later retrieved by police from the men's homes. But based on typical sentencing guidelines, the punishment the two men received for their crimes is inadequate, and indicative of the lax manner in which TSA agents who violate the law are treated within the justice system.

Grand larceny alone is enough to warrant a much longer prison sentence than just six months. And when you add the other two charges into the mix, sentencing could easily top 15 or 20 years. But because these agents worked for the government, they apparently are not subject to the same treatment as the rest of the general public.

TSA "agents" are not actually agents at all, however. They are not law enforcement, and they do not legally or constitutionally hold any type of special authority over anyone. The TSA you see working at airports, in fact, are hired screeners that are technically all in violation of the law for impersonating law enforcement officers (Prison Planet.com » Congresswoman: TSA “Screeners” Should Stop Impersonating Federal Law Enforcement Officers).

Sources for this article include:

TSA agents who stole $40K from NY luggage get jail - WSJ.com

Learn more: TSA agents steal $40,000 from passenger luggage; sentenced to only five months in prison


Learn more: TSA agents steal $40,000 from passenger luggage; sentenced to only five months in prison

TSA Air Marshal Arrested For Slapping Woman, Snatching iPhone




A Transportation Security Administration air marshal was arrested for slapping an Occupy Boston activist, then stealing her iPhone after she video recorded him.

Adam Marshall, 29, was arrested December 10, but the incident is just coming to light now after it was written about in Wired.

Obviously, somebody did their best to keep his real occupation under wraps, even though he admitted he was a federal agent at the time of his arrest.

But his behavior was so erratic, nobody believed him.

They should have known better.

“He turned around and grabbed the phone with his right hand, and he hit her with his left hand,” Filler said. With that, he took off running. He was chased by the occupiers and was arrested by Boston police in minutes. He threw her phone into a tent while being chased. Jacks chose to press charges.

“When he was getting into the (police) car he alternated between saying ‘I’m a UMass (University of Massachusetts) student!’ and ‘I’m a federal agent!’,” Jacks said, adding she thought it sounded hilarious at the time. Many of the occupiers, and possibly a few police, laughed at Marshall’s assertion.

As a federal air marshal, Marshall's job is to fly armed and in plainclothes on commercial flights, supposedly ensuring the safety of passengers.

But on the night of his arrest, he picked a fight with Occupy Boston activists, calling a group of women prostitues, which is why one of them pulled out her iPhone to record him.

Even though he was charged with robbery, he apparently is still on the TSA payroll, possibly still on duty.

All TSA will say is that he is under investigation.

Wired reports that he listed his employer as Homeland Security on his LinkedIn page, but that page has since been removed.

TSA Air Marshal Arrested For Slapping Woman, Snatching iPhone | Pixiq

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