6 arrested in $2.4m stolen merchandise ring

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The US Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of six people allegedly involved in the re-sale of stolen merchandise Thursday.

Prosecutors say the six suspects stole nearly $115,000 in merchandise from four retail locations in Monroe County over the course of nearly three years.

Sharon Banks, Amanda Reeves, Chad Lewis Jr., and Chanc Lewis are accused of stealing new items from store shelves and taking them to New York Gold Diamond Pawn Shop in Greece, operated by Dominic Sprague and James Civiletti. Sprague and Civiletti would then allegedly list the stolen items on eBay at much higher prices, resulting in much higher profits to their business.

Prosecutors say between January 2022 and August 2024, Sprague and Civiletti generated around $2.4 million in revenue from about 48,000 items they sold. The other four allegedly made $290,000 selling to the pawn shop.

Greece police launched an investigation in November 2023, after discovering Shabon Banks had an “unusually large number of transactions” at the pawn shop.

Four of the defendants were due in federal court Thursday. All six were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, transportation and sale of stolen goods in interstate commerce, money laundering, and conspiracy. Banks was also charged with aggravated identity theft.

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