Former Pitt employee charged with stealing over 13,000 masks at start of pandemic

The former director of emergency management at the University of Pittsburgh was indicted Tuesday in federal court on charges that he stole thousands of masks from campus at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic and sold them on his eBay page.

Christopher Casamento, 42, of Ross had access to N95 respirator masks and surgical face masks that were designated for use by Pitt employees and students, according to the indictment.

The indictment said Casamento stole 13,615 of the masks from Feb. 28 to March 22, 2020, and sold them on his eBay page called “steel-city-motor-toys.”

He then shipped the masks to buyers outside of Pennsylvania, prosecutors said.

Former @PittTweet Emergency Management Official Charged with Selling Stolen PPE on eBay. #FBI Pittsburgh SAC Christman issued the below statement. https://t.co/NecIS6fthE pic.twitter.com/3x62NJAKsr

— FBI Pittsburgh (@FBIPittsburgh) March 24, 2021

Casamento, who had worked at Pitt since 2007, earned $18,783.50 from sales of the personal protective equipment, prosecutors said.

“At the start of the pandemic, when supplies of PPE were low and nationwide demand was intense, Mr. Casamento used his position of trust and access to critical PPE to enrich himself at the expense of Pitt students and faculty,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman.

Pitt spokesman Kevin Zwick said the university fully cooperated with the federal investigation.

“Since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, the University of Pittsburgh has maintained an adequate stockpile of PPE sufficient to meet the needs of the university community,” Zwick said.

The university, which fired Casamento on July 17, is seeking restitution.

Casamento faces one federal count of interstate transportation of stolen property.