For immediate release: March 10, 2023

The following news release was issued by the WMATA Office of Inspector General.

Rene Febles, Inspector General, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced that Sean A. Armour, former WMATA Car Maintenance Shift Supervisor and resident of Hedgesville, West Virginia, pled guilty today in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County to one count of misdemeanor Theft and was sentenced by Judge John P. Davey to a six-month suspended sentence and three years of unsupervised probation. In addition, he was ordered to have no contact with the WMATA facility where he worked.

The WMATA Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation resulted in Armour’s arrest on October 12, 2022 when he attempted to steal 75 brass axel brush rings that WMATA originally purchased for approximately $200 per ring. Armour admitted during an interview with investigators to taking the rings with the intent to sell them for scrap proceeds. Armour was also transporting a loaded, semi-automatic pistol in his personal vehicle at the time of his arrest on WMATA property.

Court records show Armour was subsequently charged in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County with one felony count of Theft: (Article §7-104) and another misdemeanor count of Loaded Handgun in Vehicle (Article §4-203(A)(1)(V)) in violation of Maryland criminal law.

Inspector General Febles would like to thank the Metropolitan Transit Police Department and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their partnership in this investigation.

As released by: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

Click here for press release from Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

WMATA OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 1-888-234-2374 or via email at hotline@wmataoig.gov.

As released by: Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Columbia – Thursday, September 29, 2022

Defendant Manipulated Process to Benefit Company That Received More Than $1.3 Million

Click here for press release from Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Columbia

WMATA OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 1-888-234-2374 or via email at hotline@wmataoig.gov.

As released by: Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland – Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Click here for press release from Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland

WMATA OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 1-888-234-2374 or via email at hotline@wmataoig.gov.

As released by: Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland – Thursday, August 5, 2021

Upper Marlboro Woman Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Stealing Over $300,000 in Social Security Benefits to Which She Was Not Entitled

Click here for press release from Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland

WMATA-OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 1-888-234-2374 or via email at hotline@wmataoig.gov.

As released by: The Washington Post – Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Metro employee indicted on suspicion of stealing more than $150,000 in bus parts.

Click here for press release from The Washington Post.

WMATA-OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 1-888-234-2374 or via email at hotline@wmataoig.gov.

As released by: Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland – Thursday, May 6, 2021

Upper Marlboro Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Nearly $323,000 in Social Security Benefits to Which She Was Not Entitled

Click here for press release from Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland

WMATA-OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 1-888-234-2374 or via email at hotline@wmataoig.gov.

For immediate release: September 29, 2020

The following news release was issued by the WMATA Office of Inspector General.

On September 29, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), former Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Assistant Superintendent, Kirby Smith, was sentenced for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme involving WMATA. Smith was sentenced to 14 days incarceration, two years supervised release, and to pay restitution to WMATA in the amount of $174,054. Smith had pleaded guilty to violating federal law regarding the supplementation of a government official’s salary.

Smith conspired with former National Football League (NFL) player, Brian Carpenter, to defraud WMATA of over $300,000. In July 2020, Carpenter pleaded guilty in EDVA to orchestrating a conspiracy to defraud WMATA. 

Carpenter was the owner and operator of a Leesburg, Virginia company called the Flintstone Group. The company facilitated the sale and distribution of janitorial products. Some products were specifically labeled and created from Carpenter’s time in the NFL, including an enzyme solvent named “Blitz” and degreaser citrus solvent called “DG-28.”

Carpenter established a relationship with Smith when he was employed at WMATA. During his employment, Smith had a WMATA-issued credit card as part of his role as Assistant Superintendent for WMATA’s maintenance and custodial services division.

Carpenter devised a scheme whereby Smith permitted him to charge his WMATA-issued credit card for supplies that were never in fact delivered. In these instances, Carpenter would retain a substantial portion of the amount charged from the sales for his own personal benefit and Smith received cash payments in exchange for permitting Carpenter to charge his WMATA-issued credit card. To make it appear that he ran a wholly legitimate business and to circumvent WMATA’s internal credit card controls, Carpenter used at least 10 different companies to process transactions from Smith’s WMATA-issued credit card, most of whom were not in the janitorial supply business. Carpenter then provided Smith with fake and fraudulent invoices representing that WMATA paid for and received the products it ordered.

When WMATA’s Office of Inspector General began investigating the case, Carpenter provided investigators with altered invoices to make it appear that he had ordered or substituted all of the products that were charged to WMATA. In total, WMATA spent at least $310,000 on products that were never delivered.

This was a joint investigation involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Federal Bureau of Investigation – Washington Field Office, and WMATA Office of Inspector General.

As released by: Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia – Friday, July 10, 2020

Former NFL Player Pleads Guilty to Fraud Involving WMATA

Click here for press release from Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia

WMATA-OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 1-888-234-2374 or via email at hotline@wmataoig.gov.

For immediate release: January 31, 2020

The following news release was issued by the WMATA Office of Inspector General.

Former WMATA employee Kirby F. Smith entered a guilty plea today (January 31, 2020) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria), WMATA Inspector General Geoffrey Cherrington announced.

Smith pled guilty to one count of 18 USC 209, supplementation of a government official’s salary, in front of the Honorable Judge O’Grady. Under terms of the plea agreement, Smith agreed to pay restitution to WMATA in the amount of $174,054.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 15, 2020.

WMATA-OIG is an independent and objective unit of WMATA that conducts investigations relating to WMATA activities. The office encourages anyone with information about improper or illegal activity to contact the OIG hotline at 888-234-2374 or via email at wmata-oig-hotline@verizon.net.