Gotta be the shoes: Man gets 4 years for illegal buys of Air Jordans, other sneakers
Over a three-week period in 2018, Charles Brown and a few friends bought at least 565 pairs of high-end athletic shoes.
To put that number in perspective, Brown could serve the first 18 months of his new prison sentence without wearing the same pair twice.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn sentenced the 36-year-old Pineville man to more than four years in prison for something called “conspiracy to commit access device fraud.”
Translation: Brown and his cronies used a stolen credit card with a unusually high credit line to acquire $250,000 in merchandise. Most of it was footwear. Many of them Size 10s. Nikes. Adidas. Florsheim. Haan. And more Air Jordans than you could find at SouthPark Mall.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, Brown and his ring kept some of the shoes and, with the marketing acumen of Brown’s wife, sold the rest out of his apartment.
The couple’s illicit cottage industry was part of what’s known as the “Sneakerhead” community, a $3 billion industry in which desirable pairs of sneakers can be sold for triple their store price and up.
According to testimony in a related case, Brown amassed his inventory with the help of a stolen credit card number belonging to the head of basketball operations at Cal State Northridge. Because the card was used to cover air travel and other team expenses, it had a $300,000 credit limit.
Brown and co-conspirators did not max the card out. But they came close. Prosecutors say the group’s retail feeding frenzy rang up more than $250,000 in charges at Nieman Marcus, Foot Locker, Best Buy and other outlets.
Surveillance video from the stores showed Brown, co-conspirator Robert Johnson and several teen-aged boys fanning out across the Charlotte region like shoe-munching army ants. On average, they bought more than 25 pairs every day during their 22-day shopping spree.
Surveillance video taken from the cameras in and around Brown’s apartment revealed a steady stream of customers eager to buy merchandise or marijuana, prosecutors say.
Business dramatically tailed off when the Secret Service paid a call to the apartment in the fall of 2018.
Brown, according to court documents, kept his visitors waiting on the front porch for more than an hour while he loudly used a drill to remove a vent so he could hide a stash of marijuana. His children were in the home at the time.
Just before the agents were about to break down the front door, Brown’s wife, whose full name is not included in her husband’s sentencing memorandum, arrived and let them in.
The feds then walked into a display of excess that would make Willie Wonka blush. Shoe boxes, some for women and children, stacked to the ceiling. Computers. Cell phones. Watches. Designer clothing. Football and baseball jerseys with price tags still attached.
A court-filed inventory of just the shoes — all 565 pairs of them — runs on for almost 15 pages. Air Jordans — the wildly popular shoe brand of Charlotte Hornets’ owner Michael Jordan — dominate the listings with dozens of colors and models straight from a Sneakerhead’s dreams.
How quickly Cal State spotted the illegal activity is unclear. Nick Bocanegra, an assistant director of sports communications who handles public information requests for the men’s basketball program, did not respond to an Observer email Friday seeking comment.
The team is led by former N.C. State basketball coach Mark Gottfried, who appears to have been in charge of the Matador program when his staffer’s card was stolen.
Last month, Johnson, Brown’s co-conspirator, was convicted by a jury for his role in the scheme. He awaits sentencing.
Brown pleaded guilty last November. On Wednesday, as part of his sentence, he was ordered to pay more than $237,140 in restitution.
But for the next four years, Brown won’t have to worry about his shoes.
This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 3:52 PM.
