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Customs and Border Patrol Officer William Joseph Timothy did currency verification at Naples Airport in Florida until he was arrested. The paperwork notes the 43-year-old robbed at least 17 passengers in separate thefts from May 2023 through January 2024.
Officer on wrong side of law
On Tuesday, June 18, former Naples Airport US Customs and Border Protection officer William Timothy pleaded guilty to pocketing cash “from arriving international airline passengers while working at the airport.”
He’s accused of skimming off about $18,700 in cash from passengers. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida offered him a plea deal and he took it.
CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility had him under investigation for a while. It’s easy to see how his job could lead to temptation.
William Joseph Timothy, 43, stole around $18,700 in cash from passengers in 17 separate thefts from May 2023 through January 2024, according to the plea agreement in the case. https://t.co/e8oTyb7sEi
— KWWL (@KWWL) June 19, 2024
You can be pretty sure that when those suitcases full of cash come in from bank secrecy jurisdictions, it’s not all going to get reported to the IRS.
Perhaps the officer thought the owner might not mind a few bucks missing for the convenience of not answering a lot of awkward questions that could haunt the traveler later.
It seems that security cameras had a good view of his station and confirm “Timothy was covertly stealing cash from passengers during border enforcement examinations and currency verifications, which he was performing as part of his job.”
Fresh from the Bahamas
For instance, on one occasion, the customs officer was “conducting a currency verification on a passenger who had just arrived in the United States from the Bahamas.”
While counting the traveler’s cash, “he surreptitiously set aside and stole approximately $2,200 of the passenger’s money.”
Apparently, the traveler noticed it missing and reported it. There are only so many places the money could have gone. As part of the deal, the former officer agreed to pay back every dime to his victims. He also had to “immediately resign from the CBP.”
A former Naples Airport U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer pleaded guilty to stealing cash from arriving international airline passengers. https://t.co/WM0qsSjFS5
— Naples Daily News (@ndn) June 20, 2024
His attorney responded to press with a statement that “Mr. Timothy is remorseful and has accepted responsibility for his actions. Any further comments will be more appropriate at sentencing.”
The only question remaining is how much prison time he’ll get. His cooperation will go a long way toward leniency, which he’s going to need.
When he comes up for sentencing, the judge can nail him with anything up to 10 years in federal prison. The date hasn’t been set for that yet.
