Nationwide Jewelry Theft Crew Gets Fed. Prison
DOJ: Leader of Multi-State Jewelry Theft Crew Sentenced to Over 6 Years’ of Federal Imprisonment
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Duanne Pierce, 60, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was sentenced to 77 months’ imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and $606,394.60 in restitution and other penalties by United States District Court Senior Judge Cynthia M. Rufe for conspiring to transport stolen property across state lines and interstate transportation of stolen property.

From May 2018 through February 2020, defendant Duanne Pierce led seven others in a conspiracy to commit 12 retail jewelry store thefts throughout the United States, transporting the stolen jewelry back to Philadelphia after the thefts, where the jewelry was generally resold to stores in the “Jewelers Row” section of the city. Pierce and his crew carried out these thefts all over the country, often committing multiple thefts from different jewelry stores in a single day. This sophisticated approach reduced the likelihood that the crew would be caught because of local law enforcement’s significant challenge in investigating these out-of-state perpetrators. Pierce participated in 11 thefts, and his role was to steal jewelry—including diamond rings and gold chains, often worth several thousand dollars each—from a display case or from the rear, employee-only area of a store, while his co-conspirators “distracted” sales associates. Pierce then resold the stolen jewelry to local jewelers in Philadelphia. The total retail value of the jewelry stolen by Pierce’s crew was approximately $612,670.59.

In March 2022, a federal grand jury returned a 10-count Indictment charging Duanne Pierce and codefendants Charles Tillery, Janel Pierce, Yolanda Fife, David Tillery, Telfa Wills, and Clifton Fleming with conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count 1), and interstate transportation of stolen property and aiding and abetting, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2314 and 2 (Counts 2 through 10). In March 2023, Pierce pled guilty to Counts 1 through 10 of the Indictment. Each of Pierce’s codefendants has also pled guilty.

“Duanne Pierce and his co-defendants were both prolific and strategic in their thefts, sometimes targeting multiple jewelry stores in the same day. Then they’d move on to a different city and do it again, hauling the stolen loot back to Philly to resell,”  justice.gov


Houston Jewelry Theft Crew Gets Fed. Prison
DOJ: Significant sentence imposed in multiple-man robbery crew
HOUSTON – The final member of a 12-person robbery crew has been ordered to prison for his role in a string of armed jewelry store robberies, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has now imposed a total of 194 months in federal prison – 110 months for the robberies and a consecutive 84 months for aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. The sentence will be to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

Others previously convicted and sentenced include Lontay Lavelle Young, 39, Deshaun Devon Waldrup, 27, Edward Ray Lavergne Jr., 39, Jesse Markise McQueen, 32, Kevin Craig Gray, 38, Louis Jerome Hines, 44, Terry Dwight Washington, 37, Tony Dontrel Young, 32, Barry Lloyd Jones, 30, Ross White-Leonard, 33, and Denzell Devoe Lucious, 31. All are from Houston.

Lontay Young, Tony Young, Waldrup, Lavergne, McQueen, White-Leonard and Jones received respective sentences of 209, 132, 125, 114, 180, 102 and 156 months, respectively. Gray and Washington both received 147-month-terms of imprisonment, while Hines was ordered to serve 171 months. Lucious was sentenced to 168 months.

“Trafficking in violence and fear, this armed robbery crew targeted a dollar store, a jewelry store in a mall, a furniture store and other similar places where regular families shop every day,” said Hamdani. “This U.S. Attorney’s Office will crack down on this type of violence and will continue to ensure the public safety by doing what we can by fighting for appropriate sentences in federal court to get violent actors off the streets.”

This group conducted at least six robberies over the course of six months at various commercial establishments.

On Oct. 22, 2015, Lontay Young and Hines robbed the Family Dollar store on Wayside in Houston while wearing masks and carrying handguns.

Then, on Jan. 11, 2016, Jones, Cooper, Lucious and McQueen traveled outside of Houston to rob the Ben Bridge Jewelers at Barton Springs Mall in Austin. There, they stole a significant amount of Rolex watches and jewelry.

Less than two weeks later, this group, along with Tony Young, also robbed the Kay Jewelers located at the Houston Premium Outlet Mall. While Jones, Cooper and Young accosted the employees at gunpoint, Lucious sat outside acting as a lookout. McQueen distracted the security guard while the robbery occurred. They again stole numerous watches and jewelry.

On March 3, 2016, Lontay Young, Washington, Gray and Lavergne also held up the ANF Auto Finance on North Shepherd Drive. They entered the business acting as customers until Gray pulled out a gun. They then stole cash and property of the business, employees and customers.

Lontay Young later proceeded to commit two more robberies. Those included the March 9, 2016, robbery of Cash America Pawn on Jensen Drive with Waldrup and the Affordable Furniture store on the North Freeway on March 17, 2016, along with Jones and White-Leonard.

At the time of the furniture store robbery, authorities arrived on scene and shots were fired.

All have been and will remain in custody. justice.gov


Dallas Robbery Crew Focused on Shopkeepers Residences
DOJ: Dallas County Man Sentenced to 25 years in Federal Prison in Connection with 9 Donut Shop Robberies
Tony Sullivan, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery; aiding and abetting; conspiracy to kidnap; using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Sullivan was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison

“The defendant targeted a close-knit community of successful business owners, inciting fear throughout the metroplex. His victims were stalked and terrorized, some for hours and some to the brink of death, and all have a long road of recovery ahead,” said Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough

According to information presented in court, the FBI began an investigation into a series of home invasion type robbery incidents between April 2019 and December 2019 that targeted owners and operators of donut stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area. The robberies occurred late in the evening or very early in the morning before the shopkeepers departed for work. The assailants would force their way into the home and assault the home’s occupants. Victims were often beat with baseball bats and bound with duct tape while being held at gunpoint. At least nine robberies have been attributed to this crime spree. Due to the times of the robberies coinciding with the times the victims would have been leaving their residences to open their businesses, agents concluded the suspects had to have conducted physical surveillance to determine where the victims lived and when the victims would have been leaving their residences. justice.gov


DOJ: Owings Mills Man Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison for a Fraudulent Gift Card Scheme
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced Yong Chen, age 34, of Owings Mills, Maryland, yesterday to three years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to a fraudulent gift card scheme resulting in $561,000 in losses to more than 10 victims. Chen was also ordered to pay restitution of $169,950.

Chen managed a scheme to fraudulently obtain gift cards from retail stores, which he and his co-conspirators used to purchase high-end electronics, including cell phones, iPads, and laptop computers. For example, victim R.E.S., a resident of Hampstead, Maryland, responded to an email claiming that a technical support service contract would automatically renew unless the victim cancelled the service by calling the number listed in the email. R.E.S had never subscribed to such a service, but he called the phone number to make sure it would not be renewed. Editor's Note: The scheme is to long to post here. Very detailed telephone spoofing and retail store engagement.

According to the plea agreement, dozens of victims in many different states were defrauded and the cards purchased by the victims were primarily redeemed in the mid-Atlantic region to illegally purchase approximately $561,000 of Target products.

Co-defendants Liang Liang Zeng, age 58, a Chinese national residing in Staten Island, New York, and Wen Fu Zeng, age 55, of Brooklyn, New York were sentenced to 54 months in federal prison and to 10 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the fraud scheme. Both defendants were also ordered to pay restitution of $145,228 and L. Zeng was ordered to forfeit $43,633. Bin Tang, age 33, is a fugitive. justice.gov


Fraudulently Renting Thousands in Equipment & Selling Them
DOJ: Clay County Man Pleads Guilty To Aggravated Identity Theft, Fraud, And Tax Charges
Jacksonville, Florida - Christopher Leo Daragjati has pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of theft of government property, over $1,000. Daragjati faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each wire fraud count, a mandatory minimum penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment for each aggravated identity theft count, up to 10 years in prison on the charge of theft of government property, over $1,000 and payment of restitution to the victims he defrauded.

According to court documents, Daragjati obtained the personal identifiable information (PII) to include the Social Security number of multiple victims. In July 2022, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into an unknown individual, later identified as Daragjati, using stolen identities to commit fraud. Daragjati opened up commercial lines of credit with Sunbelt Rentals using the PII of victims. After renting thousands of dollars of equipment from Sunbelt Rentals, he pawned or stole the equipment. Daragjati’s actions caused a felony arrest warrant to be issued for an innocent victim. The Florida Highway Patrol – Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence, with assistance from other members of law enforcement, determined that Daragjati fraudulently obtained 26 genuine Florida driver licenses and identification cards. justice.gov


Boston, MA: Smash-and-grab takes place at Boylston Street high-end watch store
The Audemars Piguet luxury watch store on Boylston Street in Boston was the target of a smash-and-grab on Friday evening. A security supervisor tells WCVB's Emily Maher the thieves came in with hammers, smashing glass cases that hold watches worth thousands of dollars. The supervisor said that the thieves broke into the luxury watch store, robbed it and then took off in a vehicle. Video from the scene showed shattered glass covering the floor of the boutique, with yellow evidence markers dotting the inside of one of Boston's high-end watch stores. "I had noticed a huge commotion," Nick Dang, who was visiting Boston, said. "There were a lot of people gathered in front of this storefront. I looked in, and there was glass all over the ground. Detectives brushed the door to the store for fingerprints after they say a group of three to four men broke into the watch store around 6 p.m. Police are not saying whether the men got away with any watches, but a security supervisor at the store says they did.  wcvb.com


Irvine, CA: Leisa Marie Bradley is filmed brazenly stealing $7,500 of clothes from California Lululemon store
A California woman was suspected of stealing $7,500 worth of clothes from a Lululemon store - just days after pilfering $22,500 worth of garments from the same shop. Leasia Marie Bradley, 26, of San Diego, was arrested and booked after surveillance footage caught her in the act at the store inside the Irvine Spectrum mall. Bradley, who was wearing a mask, was allegedly caught looting from the women's leggings section as she slowly opened a large bag and filled it with the Lululemon items. But this was allegedly not her first jaunt. According to the police, Bradley looted over $20,000 worth of clothes from the same pricey athleisure store the week before. Brazen Bradley also had a $150,000 warrant out for her arrest in San Diego for robbery.  dailymail.co.uk


Johns Creek, GA: Man Sought for theft of $3300 in vacuums from Target
Police were dispatched to Target on State Bridge Road July 4 on a report that a man walked out of the store with nearly $3,350 in stolen items. The store’s loss prevention officer reported a male suspect grabbing a shopping cart, filling it with around five items. Three minutes later, at 8:03 p.m., the suspect left without paying. His stock included different models of vacuum cleaners.  appenmedia.com


Riverside County, CA: Riverside County Sheriff reports $2000 Beauty Store ORC theft
On July 30, 2023, at 2:33 p.m., deputies assigned to the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to a business in the 12600 block of Frederick Street, in the City of Moreno Valley, reference a theft from a beauty supply retailer. The suspects walked into the store, filled three shopping baskets with beauty supply items and left the store with approximately $2,000 worth of product without paying. The reporting party provided a description of the three female adults, in addition to their vehicle, a silver Kia Optima. Working jointly with local agencies, deputies located the suspect vehicle traveling on the 215 freeway towards the City of San Bernardino. An enforcement stop was conducted, leading to the identification and arrest of 20-year-old Ja’Nique Thomas, 27-year-old Juanesha Ables, and 21-year-old MyLonnie Harris. All three suspects are residents of San Bernardino and were in possession of the stolen merchandise. Thomas, Ables, and Harris were subsequently booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center for felony charges related to grand theft and conspiracy.  riversidesheriff.org


Boulder, CO: Comic Shop Robbed of $13,000 in Merchandise

Harris County, TX: Authorities searching for 2 people accused of stealing $2,400 in merchandise from Nike store

Johns Creek, GA: Men wanted for alleged theft of $520 in game controllers from Target

Suffolk County, NY: Suspect Used Stolen Credit Card Info to Make Purchases at Multiple Suffolk Stores