Two New York men will spend just under five years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding major retailers of tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods while living in Raleigh, U.S. Attorney Michael Easley Jr. announced. announced on Monday.
Kavon Kerrick Robinson, 25, and Christopher Anthony Hilaire, 27, pleaded guilty in July after being indicted separately by grand juries, court records show. Robinson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, while Hilaire pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and will spend 16 months in prison, the release said.
“Retail returns fraud, including double-dipping schemes like this, costs retailers billions of dollars in losses every year,” Easley said in the press release. “These schemes drive up prices for the rest of us and harm everyday consumers whose credit card information is stolen to facilitate the scheme.”
Robinson purchased stolen credit card information using cryptocurrency on the dark web, which he and Hilaire would then use to purchase items online and ship them to their Raleigh apartment or pick them up at stores, the release said.
“For items purchased from major retailers, Robinson focused on certain items he knew he could resell,” the release said. “For example, Robinson purchased a large number of Google Nest thermostats from Lowe’s Home Improvement because he had a buyer for those items.”
Robinson sometimes traveled to New York to sell the items or brought them back for cash, the release said. While helping Robinson, Haire also provided instructions on an online credit card fraud forum on how to carry out similar schemes.
According to court documents, between April 8, 2022 and November 15, 2022, the couple ultimately used 87 different credit cards tied to 35 different states.
“Early damage estimates from just some of the affected retailers are approaching $100,000,” according to a letter from Easley’s office.
Robinson stole credit card information from at least 11 people, while Hilaire used credit cards from at least five people, the couple’s indictment states.
According to court documents, affected retailers included Lululemon, Best Buy, Home Depot, Target, Walmart, Michaels, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Bose. It was not clear how many retailers were affected, but researchers estimated losses totaled more than $95,000.
Fraudulent online purchases
The case began in September 2022, when fraud investigators at Lowe’s contacted the FBI about 550 fraudulent online purchases from the same IP address from April 16, 2022 to September 12, 2022, according to court documents. That IP address was traced to Robinson and Hilaire’s apartment in Raleigh.
The men evaded police for months, according to court documents.
Robinson was not arrested until December 6, 2023, despite promising to turn himself in to FBI agents by telephone on September 20, 2023. Hilaire initially agreed to plead guilty without charges in December 2023, but when the scheduled date of the plea arrived, his attorney said he had not heard from Hilaire since the summer, court records show.
According to court documents, Hilaire was ultimately charged in February and arrested on March 20.
Andy Ellen, the president and general counsel of the NC Retail Merchants Association, said in Monday’s news release that he was grateful for the prosecutor’s work in the case.
“Organized retail crime is not just a crime against property, but a crime against people, often linked to other serious crimes such as opioids, identity theft and human trafficking,” Ellen said. “It is very important that offenders are prosecuted to the fullest extent of North Carolina law for the good of the economy and the safety of our communities.”
