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Man sentenced to 12 months and a day for stealing thousands of DOJ phones
Javan King used the proceeds mostly to gamble at MGM casinos and on the FanDuel sports betting site
A Laurel, Maryland man has been sentenced to 12 months and one day behind bars for stealing more than 4,800 phones while working as a government contractor.
Javan King, 42, worked as an information technology contractor for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice from 2021 to 2025.
Prosecutors say King defrauded the U.S. government out of $1.3 million by requesting thousands of mobile devices the DOJ did not need.
Once the phones were shipped to Maryland, King allegedly sent them to cellphone resellers and pocketed the profits to fund a luxury lifestyle, including trips to various MGM casino hotels.
He even gambled some of the money away on the FanDuel sports betting website.
Money was also used for a down payment on a $92,000 Range Rover.
The fraud came to light after a Kentucky woman discovered the phone she had purchased previously belonged to the FBI.
King pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2026, before Judge Jia M. Cobb to one count of mail fraud. In addition to the 12-month prison term, Judge Cobb ordered King to serve two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $1,319,172.85 in restitution. Federal prosecutors had requested a prison term of 24 months.
“King’s theft of thousands of government phones was a brazen betrayal of the public trust that drained taxpayers of more than a million dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “He then squandered the stolen money on gambling, luxury vacations, and a high‑end vehicle. He will now be required to repay the very funds he siphoned from the American taxpayer and serve a prison sentence for his crimes. "
King acknowledged that his scheme caused the Department of Justice to suffer an actual loss of more than $1.3 million because of fees that it paid AT&T for the unnecessary phone lines and phones.
This case was investigated by the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
