GREENACRES, Fla. — A Palm Beach County man was arrested for allegedly attempting to steal sensitive election equipment from the Supervisor of Elections Office.
John Dominick Panicci, 59, reportedly removed an encrypted access key from a voter registration terminal during a training session for election volunteers on March 19, ahead of the March 24 election. Surveillance photos captured him in the act, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Although the key was only configured for training databases, authorities noted that a knowledgeable individual could potentially reverse engineer it and misuse it on a voter registration kiosk. Detectives executed a search warrant at Panicci’s home, recovering the stolen key along with numerous electronic and digital storage devices.
Panicci faces property crime and theft charges related to the destruction, taking, or damage of computer equipment, with Florida penalties ranging from five to 30 years in prison if convicted.
County Judge Frank Castor set bail at $6,000 during a hearing on March 29, and an initial case conference is scheduled for May 21 before Circuit Judge Sherri Collins. Panicci was represented by the county Public Defender’s Office, which does not comment on ongoing cases.
