Lead transportation security officer at newark international airport sentenced to six months home confinement for stealing from travelers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
September 20, 2011 |
NEWARK, N.J. – A lead transportation security officer employed by the Transportation Security Administration at Newark Liberty International Airport was sentenced today to six months home confinement for his role in stealing money from travelers during security screenings, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Al Raimi, 30, of Woodbridge, was also ordered to pay $24,150 restitution to his victims and pay a $3,000 fine when he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court. Raimi had previously admitted that he and his supervisor regularly stole from travelers when he pleaded guilty Feb. 24, 2011, before to an Information charging him with theft by a government officer.
According to court documents and statements made in court:
From October 2009 to September 2010, Raimi was a lead transportation security officer at the B-3 security checkpoint for Terminal B at Newark Airport. During that time, Raimi stole between $10,000 and $30,000 in cash from travelers. Raimi would then “kick up” a portion of the money he stole to Michael Arato, 42, of Ewing – his immediate supervisor at the checkpoint. In exchange, Arato allowed Raimi to continue stealing. Arato was sentenced June 7, 2011, to 30 months in prison.
Arato pleaded guilty before Judge Linares in February 2011 to accepting bribes and kickbacks from Raimi, admitting that he did so in exchange for not reporting the thefts to their superiors or other authorities. Arato also admitted that he regularly stole from passengers traveling through the checkpoint.
In addition to the sentence, order of restitution and fine, Judge Linares sentenced Raimi to three years supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory K. Null for the Northeast Region, and detectives and officers of the Port Authority Police Department of New York and New Jersey, under the direction of Superintendent Michael A. Fedorko, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Kanefsky of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.
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Defense counsel: Philip Karasyk, New York
