ATM Technician Sentenced for Stealing Over $112,000 from ATMs in Maryland

GREENBELT, MD—Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced John Nathaniel Watts, age 34, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, today to four months in prison, followed by eight months of home confinement and three years of supervised release, for stealing cash from three ATMs. Chief Judge Chasanow also entered an order that Watts pay $112,920 in restitution, the amount of money he stole.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Charles County Sheriff Rex Coffey.

According to his guilty plea, Watts was employed by Diebold Inc. as an ATM technician. On May 26, 2011, Watts informed employees at the SunTrust bank branch, located inside the Safeway store at Bowie Town Center in Bowie, Maryland, that he had been sent to service the ATM machine. Watts wore a photo identification badge and carried a tool bag, both of which were marked “Diebold.” After the bank employees allowed him access to the ATM, Watts surreptitiously removed $66,460 from the machine, which he placed in his tool bag and left.

On July 6 and 14, 2011, again posing as a Diebold technician, Watts similarly removed $20,300 and $26,160, respectively, from the SunTrust ATMs inside Safeway stores located at Shining Willow Way in LaPlata, Maryland, and the Waldorf Market Place in Waldorf, Maryland.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI and Charles County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner and Special Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth D. Collery, of the U.S. Justice Department, Appellate Section, who prosecuted the case.