4 charged with conspiring to steal $425,000 in fitness trackers from North Texas warehouse
Two brothers and two other people have been charged with systemically stealing more than $425,000 worth of fitness trackers from a Corsicana warehouse, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
The scheme spanned about four months, federal authorities said in a news release Monday.
Brothers Antonio Marcell Lewis, 41m, and Samuel Earl Lewis, 36, along with Aaron Lincoln, 43, and Ricka Smith, 37, were arrested Thursday and they made their initial appearances on Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Toliver.
The four were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate shipment on Sept. 8 from the Corsicana warehouse. Corsicana is about 80 miles southeast of Fort Worth.
If convicted, they face up to five years in federal prison.
Antonio Lewis and Lincoln, both shipping and receiving employees for a department store distribution center in Corsicana, are accused of stealing fitness trackers and accessories destined for retail stores, unloading them by from freight trailers by the pallet-full and placing them near the facility’s loading docks, according to federal authorities.
Smith, a driver for a commercial freight carrier, allegedly parked her truck near the loading docks, so that Antonio Lewis and Lincoln could load the trackers onto her truck.
Federal authorities said that Smith would meet up with Antonio Lewis and his brother, Samuel Lewis, after each of the thefts to unload the stolen fitness trackers from her truck.
The brothers then sold the fitness trackers to unauthorized retailers, authorities allege.
