A US Customs and Border Protection officer has pleaded guilty to stealing as much as $18,700 from private jet passengers during random checks that were carried out at Naples Airport in Florida between mid-2023 and early 2024.
William Joseph Timothy, 43, from Ave Maria, faces a potential jail sentence of 10 years in federal prison after admitting to stealing cash from passengers who had just arrived in the United States off of international flights.
An investigation was opened into Timothy by the CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility after a wealthy passenger alleged that $2,200 in cash had gone missing during a random customs check after they had just arrived from the Bahamas in May 2023.
The passenger didn’t immediately report the missing cash but did tell the pilot of his private jet, who made the CPB aware of the allegation.
Anti-corruption investigators reviewed surveillance video footage from the airport, which allegedly caught Timothy in the act. During the May 2023 theft, Timothy took three stacks of dollar bills from a much larger bundle of cash, which he was counting and then placed them to one side.
He then got a customs declaration form and placed that over the top of the separated bills before returning the larger bundle of cash to the victim.
This wasn’t, however, the only time that Timothy stole from passengers at the Southwest Florida airport, and prosecutors believe that he stole at least $18,700 from passengers over the course of 17 customs checks.
As part of the plea deal that Timothy has done with prosecutors, he will resign with immediate effect from the CPB and pay full restitution to the victims.
