Catawba County man, 66, sentenced in retail crime ring
A 66-year-old Catawba County man was sentenced to eight years in prison this week for what prosecutors said was his role as the leader of an organized retail crime ring.
The ring sold and distributed at least $12 million in stolen over-the-counter drugs and health-and-beauty products, Acting U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose said.
In April 2014, a federal jury convicted Terrell resident Steve Hale of interstate transportation of stolen goods conspiracy, interstate transportation of stolen goods, making false statements on income tax forms, failure to collect employee income and FICA taxes, and obstruction of justice.
As part of his sentencing, Hale also was ordered to pay a $3,100 special assessment, forfeit a sports boat and $332,195 in seized funds, and pay restitution to his victims. A judge will determine the amount of restitution.
Hale was the last of eight defendants convicted and sentenced in “Operation Cash Back,” a multi-agency investigation that began in September 2010. His co-defendants were previously sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 1/2 to seven years.
Investigators seized $29,000 in cash, 20 motor vehicles and two real estate properties and obtained forfeiture money judgments of $7 million.
From 2006 to 2011, the ring bought and sold stolen over-the-counter products, including medications and dietary supplements, and health-and-beauty aid products, court records show.
Criminals known as “boosters” shoplifted the products from the shelves of various pharmacy and retail stores in the Carolinas, West Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, prosecutors said.
The boosters sold the goods at far below retail and wholesale prices to first-level “fences” who sold them to second-level fences. The products were then distributed to a higher-level fence who distributed the stolen products back into the retail marketplace, prosecutors said.
Hale was a second-level fence, court records show. His bail was revoked in April 2014, and he’s been in federal custody ever since.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 9:22 AM with the headline "Catawba County man, 66, sentenced in retail crime ring."