Md. man who stole $400K in bus fares gets 2 years

A Maryland Transit Administration worker who stole $400,000 in bus fares was sentenced in federal court in Baltimore to two years in prison, authorities said.

David M. Pattawi, 36, of White Marsh worked as a farebox maintenance repairman beginning in 2006 and later as a radio communications technician. He had an electronic key that allowed him to open computerized fareboxes, and steal the cash inside, according to court records.

Federal authorities said Pattawi used the cash to by a Lincoln Navigator and help finance a second home.

On March 12, 2008, authorities searched Pattawi's home in White Marsh, a house he owns in Baltimore and his car.

They seized coin counters, boxes of paper coin wrappers, about $9,000 in cash and $8,000 in money orders that had been purchased with cash.

-- Maria Glod

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