Thursday, April 25, 2013

Parking Lot Manager Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Steal Approximately $1.4 Million in Parking Fees from Smithsonian Museum

(Apr 25, 2013, (ALEXANDRIA, VA))--Abeselom Hailemariam, 33, of Alexandria, Virginia, pleaded guilty today for his participation in a conspiracy to steal approximately $1.4 million of visitor parking fees when he was employed by Parking Management Inc., (PMI), the company contracted to manage parking services at the Smithsonian Institution’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Scott S. Dahl, Inspector General for the Smithsonian Institution; and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge T.S. Ellis, III.

The plea follows Hailemariam’s March 5, 2013, arrest at Dulles International Airport by agents of the Smithsonian Office of Inspector General and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hailemariam faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison when he is sentenced on July 19, 2013.

Hailemariam was a full-time location manager for PMI, which managed the 2,000-vehicle parking lot at the Udvar-Hazy Center.  Read more from FBI Wasington Fild Office »

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