Man arrested for theft of sensitive equipment at Palm Beach County elections office
By Malcolm Shields
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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — A man was arrested on allegations of theft at a supervisor of elections office.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office announced on Sunday morning that John D. Panicci, 59, of Lake Worth, was arrested on Saturday and is facing theft charges.
The sheriff’s office said Friday, March 27, it responded to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office, located at 4301 Cherry Road on a report of stolen sensitive computer equipment.
Sheriff’s office detectives determined that on March 19, the Supervisor of Elections Office conducted a training session for volunteers assisting with the election scheduled for March 24. During the session, Panicci stole an encrypted access key from a voter registration terminal.
The March 24 election included the Florida House District 87 Special Election and the Village of North Palm Beach Council, Group 4 Election.
WPBF 25 News contacted the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office and is awaiting a response.
The sheriff’s office said the key was configured only for training databases. There was concern that a knowledgeable person could potentially reverse engineer the encryption and reintroduce the key into a voter registration kiosk for malicious purposes.
Once probable cause was established, the sheriff’s office obtained search and arrest warrants.
On Saturday, March 28, deputies executed a search warrant at Panicci’s home. During the search, detectives recovered the stolen items along with a substantial amount of electronic and digital storage devices.
Panicci was taken into custody.
During a court appearance on Sunday morning, Panicci was told not to have contact with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office. He is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail on $6,000 bail.
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