Monique Robinson
wmal.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Tuesday, a 51-year-old Gaithersburg man was sentenced to six months in federal prison, six months home confinement and three years of supervised release for theft of government property, according to Department of Justice press release.
Christopher Dame was responsible for removing and selling NIH property.
The details of the press release are below:
Greenbelt, Maryland – On September 5, 2017, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Christopher Dame, age 51, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, to six months in federal prison, six months home confinement, and three years of supervised release for theft of government property. Dame, a former Visual Information Specialist for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Medical Arts Division, which is located in Bethesda, Maryland, previously pled guilty to stealing NIH property and selling it online without authorization.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Paul L. Bowman of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, Dame was responsible for designing, printing, and displaying decorative and informational materials in NIH buildings, as well as directing his colleagues to place purchase orders of printing ink for the Medical Arts Division. At no point did Dame have authority to remove NIH property from the main campus or sell NIH property.
Dame admitted that from January 3, 2013, through January 12, 2017, he regularly stole medical research equipment, photography equipment, and printing supplies belonging to NIH, and sold such items through an e-commerce corporation. Dame also deceived his colleagues into purchasing surplus ink for NIH, with the intent to ultimately steal the ink which he then sold online for his own benefit. Between 2013 and 2017, Dame stole over 400 items belonging to NIH. As part of his plea agreement, Dame will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss, which is $75,613.14.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the NIH Division of Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael T. Packard and Trial Attorney Simon J. Cataldo from the Department of Justice, Public Integrity Section, who are prosecuting the case.
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