Retail theft ring busted: Six charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and more

Taylor Liberti News10NBC

Six face conspiracy, money laundering, other charges in retail theft scheme

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Six people have been arrested and accused of profiting millions of dollars from a retail theft ring.

U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced the arrest during a press conference in Rochester on Thursday. The suspects are accused of:

Wire fraud
Transportation of stolen goods in interstate commerce
Money laundering
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
Conspiracy of other alleged accounts

The suspects are Shabon Banks, Amanda Reeves, Chad Lewis Jr., Chance Lewis, Dominic Sprague, and James Civiletti.

Ross says Banks, Reeves, Lewis, and Lewis Jr. stole over $900,000 worth of product from retail stores and resold the goods at New York Gold Diamond Pawn for less than the retail value. Then, Ross says the other two suspects, Sprague and Civiletti, would sell the items on eBay over retail value.

The suspects sold more than 48,000 new, in-box items — grossing $2.4 million. The theft ring was paid more than $290,000 over the past three years.

Two of the suspects, Sprague and Civiletti, were also indicted in an illegal gambling ring case in 2023.

Photos of the shoplifting included in the criminal complaint:

The Greece Police Department, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the IRS Criminal Division were all involved in the investigation.

Watch the full press conference:

As a result, the stores stolen from, including Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s Walmart, and Kohl’s, suffered significant financial loss. Ross says the theft directly impacts communities causing stores to close, and prices to go up.