Pythias Brown Accused Of Selling Stolen Items On eBay

For those of us who avoid packing valuable items in your checked luggage, afraid of the sticky hands of less-reputable members of the Transportation Security Administration's employment ranks... well, here's a story that appears to vindicate those concerns. 

Pythias Brown, 48, is in big trouble. Not only is he on unpaid leave from TSA, and facing the loss of his job... but the US Attorney's Office in Newark got his bail set at $100,000 after charging him with stealing from airline passengers.

If he's convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Authorities say Brown, who has been working as a Newark Liberty Airport baggage screener, stole more than 100 cameras, laptops, cell phones, GPS devices, MP3 players and other items from luggage being screened behind the airport ticket counter.

Investigators say Brown's arrest came after they posed as buyers in an eBay auction of a camera stolen from CNN. The username allegedly used by Brown returns 260 buyer feedback entries on thousands of dollars worth of computers, cameras and other gear. Authorities say the stolen camera on which they bid was recovered at Brown's home.

Lara Uselding, a spokeswoman for the TSA, told Newsday that 465 transportation security officers have been terminated for theft since May 1, 2003. That works out to about 0.4 percent of the agency's employees.

The news for Brown isn't all bad. He still apparently has people who believe in him. Those 260 buyer feedback comments on eBay were 100 percent positive. And his fiance, Dee, co-signed his unsecured bail bond.

FMI: Read Brown's EBay Profile, www.tsa.gov