Columbus residents sentenced in Sam’s Club theft scheme that tops $900K
Three local residents are headed to federal prison and fourth is on probation for a scheme that stole more than $900,000 worth of goods from Sam’s Club stores so the merchandise could be sold on eBay, federal authorities said.
Traveling to Sam’s Clubs in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, the conspirators stole $900,567 in items such as ink cartridges, Bose speakers, razors, DVDs, tick and flea medications and pet collars, officials said.
Those involved sometimes emptied Sam’s Club boxes filled with cheap paper goods and stuffed them with more expensive products, so they paid only the price on the box as they checked out, investigators said.
The thieves delivered the loot either to Brian Cowman’s Columbus home or to a storage facility he rented, and then Cowman sold it on his eBay page “rockislandoutdoorsllc,” the feds said in a news release Tuesday.
They said Cowman conducted 6,474 sales from March 2017 to February 2019, with many of those transactions involving stolen Sam’s Club merchandise.
“Brian Cowman profited from this theft ring, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars, even making a down payment for a new home with the illegal proceeds,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. That home was in Harris County, he said.
Authorities searching Cowman’s home and his storage facility found stolen items valued at about $61,000, investigators said. They said Crawford told agents he got $30,000 to $45,000 from Cowman in the year and a half he sold Cowman stolen merchandise. Crawford used a portion of the money to pay those joining in the thefts, investigators said.
Here are the defendants U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land sentenced in Columbus:
- Cowman, 46, was sentenced to serve 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to transport stolen goods.
- Marcel Crawford, 68, of Columbus, was sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods.
- Ernest Mitchell, 55, of Columbus, was sentenced to 51 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count conspiracy to transport stolen goods.
- Mildred Alarcon, 48, of Fortson, was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to one count of false statements.
These two defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury, but remain at large, authorities said:
- Christopher Brown, 50, of Phenix City, Alabama, charged with one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods.
- Orlando Brooks, 53, of Columbus, also charged with one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods.
If convicted, each of them faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.