Former Government Contractor Sentenced For Helping Himself To Electronic Devices That He Sold On eBay

DOJ Press

            WASHINGTON – Dennis Gamarra, 53, of Woodbridge, VA, was sentenced today to one year of probation, to include six months of home confinement, for stealing government property from the Department of Commerce and the Library of Congress, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves.

            Gamarra pleaded guilty on September 26, 2022, in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of theft of government property. In addition to the term of probation and home confinement, U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb ordered $56,960 in restitution to the affected agencies and a forfeiture order for the same amount.

            According to the government’s evidence and the defendant’s admissions when entering his guilty plea, Gamarra was employed as a contractor working at the United States Department of Commerce (“DOC”) within the International Trade Administration (“ITA”) beginning in October 2014, at an office in Washington, D.C. While there, Defendant Gamarra largely worked to provide information technology (“IT”) support to the ITA and through his employment had access to certain government-furnished equipment, including Microsoft Surface tablet devices belonging to DOC and issued to DOC employees. During his tenure, Defendant Gamarra stole at least one Microsoft Surface Tablet, worth USD $1,370, removing it from ITA’s offices, advertising it for sale online through his eBay account, and ultimately re-selling it to another individual through eBay.  Defendant did so knowingly, with the intent to deprive the owner, in this case, DOC, of the right to use that property. Starting in November 2019, Defendant Gamarra began working as a contractor for the Library of Congress (“LOC”), at an office in Washington, D.C. While at LOC, he similarly worked to provide IT support services. As in his role at DOC, Defendant Gamarra had access to government-furnished equipment, including Dell Laptops that were the property of LOC and that were issued to LOC employees. While at LOC, Defendant Gamarra removed at least 29 separate Dell laptops from LOC that he knew to belong to LOC, cumulatively worth a total of approximately USD $55,590, advertised them on eBay, and ultimately resold them to different customers through that account. Defendant took these laptops knowingly, with the intent to deprive the owner, in this case, LOC, of the right to use them.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves commended the work of the relevant investigators from the Library of Congress Office of Inspector General and the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General.  They also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Chad Byron and Michon Tart.  Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Nestler and Will Hart, who investigated and prosecuted the case.


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