A Colombian national has pleaded guilty and ordered deported in connection with theft of a Department of Transportation (DOT) laptop computer, according to information from DOT's Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
Juan Calle was sentenced in US District Court in Miami FL to time served and three years of supervised release, which was suspended because of his illegal immigration status in the United States. Calle will be deported to Columbia, according to the OIG information.
The laptop was stolen from an OIG special agent's vehicle near Miami. Subsequent investigative activity identified an organized effort by a small ring of thieves to steal laptops from vehicles in the same area where the OIG agent's laptop was stolen.
The case is part of an investigation into theft of three computers that contained personal information about commercial driver license (CDL) holders, according to earlier DOT information. Two computers were stolen in the Miami area and one in Baltimore MD.
DOT said earlier that one of the computers stolen in Florida contained data of 133,000 Florida residents, including holders of the CDLs, FAA airman certificates, and personal driver licenses obtained from the Largo FL licensing facility. The data did not contain financial or medical data, but did contain personally identifiable information. DOT did not elaborate in its news release at that time on the other computer's contents.
The laptop taken in Maryland may have contained personally-identifiable information pertaining to 193 individuals who hold a commercial driver's license (CDL) from 40 motor carrier companies. It does not appear that the laptop contained any financial or medical information, but it did contain individual names, dates of birth, and CDL numbers, DOT said earlier.