2 charged in VA theft `did not know what they had,' police say
WASHINGTON -- Police in Montgomery, Md., charged two men yesterday with felonies in the May 3 theft of computer equipment from a Veterans Affairs analyst's house. The theft is the largest data breach in federal government history.
The stolen laptop and external hard drive contained the unencrypted names, Social Security numbers, and birth dates of about 19.6 million veterans and active-duty military members as well as the names and birth dates of about 6.9 million other veterans and service members.
Police arrested Jesus Alex Pineda, 19, and Christian Brian Montano, 19, both of Rockville, Md., about 9 p.m. Friday in a
Montano was also charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit theft over $500. A juvenile in custody on an unrelated charge is also a suspect in the crime, police said.
Police depicted the suspects as ordinary thieves who are responsible for a string of other local burglaries, but who did not target the laptop and hard drive, which police say they stole along with jewelry and cash.
``As far as we can determine, this was a random burglary," Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said. ``They did not know what they had."
Authorities recovered the laptop and hard drive in late June when a person who had the equipment contacted US Park Police after seeing news accounts and notices of a $50,000 reward offered by Montgomery police. FBI officials announced last month that forensic tests on the stolen equipment gave them ``a high degree of confidence" that the sensitive data had not been accessed.
Key information that led to Friday's arrests came from a phone tip received by the FBI within the previous few days, Manger said. The three are suspected in at least five other burglaries, police said, and two have criminal records.
Manger said yesterday that it is uncertain whether the tipster who led police to the laptop -- or anyone else -- will receive the $50,000 reward.
Despite the prior recovery of the equipment, the recent arrests were crucial, said Jim O'Neill, assistant inspector general for the VA. ``If someone got their hands on that many personal identities, the result would be catastrophic if their intent was to steal their identities."
