UPDATE: Bartow, FL: Racketeering trial begins for woman accused of leading baby-formula theft ring worth millions
The racketeering trial of a 51-year-old woman accused of leading a 2014 statewide theft of baby formula worth millions of dollars began Wednesday in Bartow. Alicia Ann Tondreau-Leve, of Melbourne, faces up to 60 years in prison for the first-degree felonies. She's charged with participating in pattern racketeering, conspiracy to engage in pattern racketeering and dealing in stolen property. Officials said the thefts occurred in Polk County and across Central Florida in Publix Super Markets, Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie and Target stores over a two-year period. Each of the businesses lost $1 million to $2 million over a two-year period, investigators reported, according to The Orlando Sentinel. theledger.com

Manhattan Beach police crack counterfeit credit card-making operation in Corona
Two men were arrested when Manhattan Beach police uncovered an alleged counterfeit credit card making operation in Riverside County, police said Wednesday.

The men were taken into custody Saturday during an investigation into counterfeit credit cards that were used to buy merchandise and gifts in stores in Manhattan Beach and other cities in Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties, police said. They also found about 150 counterfeit credit cards, numerous counterfeit identification cards, and merchandise purchased with the cards, police said. Arrested were Christopher William Gude, a Corona man who turns 30 on Thursday; and Kareem Anthony Thompson, 24, of Brooklyn, New York. dailybreeze.com

Filipino man admits running $9M global credit card cybercrime ring in Newark, N.J. court
According to court documents, Virtucio purchased stolen debit and credit card numbers from computer hackers and encoded new cards with the stolen data. Then, he and his "global network of cashers" made a series of unauthorized purchases and ATM withdrawals.

Virtucio faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, officials said. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 24. He was extradited to New Jersey early last year after his arrest in January of 2015 in south Florida.  nj.com

Menlo Park, CA: Thieves take $65,000 in wine from Beltramo's
Roughly $65,000 worth of wine was stolen from Beltramo's Wine & Spirits last week, according to police. At 9:46 p.m. July 13, Menlo Park police were alerted to a break-in at the liquor store and determined that roughly 48 bottles of wine had been stolen. Police were unable to identify any suspects in video footage from the store's surveillance cameras, as it was too dark inside and "the video is very poor quality," police spokeswoman Nicole Acker said. The store, which is set to close Saturday after 134 years of operation, had recently brought some high-end wines down from the attic and placed them on shelves, some selling for more than $1,000 a pop. mercurynews.com

Edmond, OK: AT&T reports a burglary; $65,000 of cell phones stolen
80 cell phones snatched from an Edmond store. Police are now looking for the burglar who stole $65,000 worth of phones from a secured vault. A call for an alarm going off, pretty typical for police on the Fourth of July but this call in Edmond had a very strange ending. The business was the AT&T store on West Danforth. Once police arrived they soon realized someone had actually broken into the Submarina restaurant next door and made their way to AT&T. "Went up into the ceiling tiles and crawled across and then down into the vault and took about 80 pieces of merchandise which is about $65,000 worth of phones," said Jenny Wagnon, spokesperson for Edmond Police. okcfox.com

Athens, AL: Walmart Associate and friend arrested in $10,000 theft
A cashier at an Athens Walmart and his friend have been arrested, accused of stealing $10,307 from the store during the past several months. Athens Police announced the arrests Wednesday afternoon. Michael Lee Leopard worked as a cashier at the store and, according to police, conspired with his friend - Heather Rice - to steal televisions, clothes, and other merchandise. Supposedly, Rice would come to the store, select merchandise, and then go to the cash register where Leopard was working. Leopard would then pretend to scan the items, even running a blank register tape so it appeared he was handing Rice a receipt after she would swipe a card. waaytv.com

Coldwater, MI: Vacuum Cleaner thieves busted at Meijers; Distraction idea was probably a bad plan
A southeast Michigan couple, Jason Long, 39, and Alexis Capnerhurst, 22, were arrested Sunday trying to steal thousands of dollars in vacuums from Meijer. According to Coldwater Police, Capnerhurst created a diversion in the store by yelling and screaming that Long had beaten her. While attention was focused on her, Long pushed a cart filled with the vacuum cleaners out the door and headed out the parking lot. Police responding to the call caught up to him as he fled. Among the cleaners in the cart were five high priced Dyson units. Total value of the items $3.497. thedailyreporter.com

Missoula, MT: Bond set for woman charged with stealing $1,800 worth of clothing from Walmart
A loss prevention officer at the Mullan Road Walmart told Missoula police he watched Jami Stephens, 30, for hours as she loaded two carts with clothes early Tuesday morning. The officer said he watched Stephens consolidate the clothes to a single cart before leaving the store without paying, according to the affidavit. When the officer stopped Stephens, she allegedly told him she was leaving to grab her mother, who would be paying. missoulian.com

Cadillac, MI: Man charged with Organized Retail Crime
A 39-year-old Cadillac man is facing prison time after he was charged in 84th District Court with organized retail crime. cadillacnews.com