New details in theft ring investigation
DELAWARE - The final defendants in a multi-county, eight person theft ring entered guilty pleas in Delaware County Common Pleas Court Tuesday.
Philip Burkholder, 83; Wendy Emmons, 46; Justin Emmons, 26; Jordan Emmons, 24; and Brittany Chafin, 24, all pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and will be sentenced on March 14.
The Delaware County Prosecutor's Office said they weren't seeking a specific prison sentence for Burkholder and Chaffin, but they and the defense attorneys had jointly agreed to recommend five year-sentences for Wendy Emmons and her two sons Justin and Jordan.
Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity is a newer criminal charge, added to the Ohio Revised Code in June 2012, that specifically targets these retail theft rings.
It allows law enforcement to combine similar criminal acts committed within a 180-day period into one first-degree felony charge, as past theft cases involved mainly misdemeanors and some felonies.
"The pattern of corrupt activity is a wonderful charge to actually make these people step back a little bit," said Columbus Police Det. Brian Lacy, who said it gives "teeth" to prosecution and is similar to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act that targeted Mafia families and high level drug trafficking.
In early December, Sasha Steele, 24, and Stevie Henry, 25, both pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering as a third-degree felony and two counts of theft, both fifth-degree felonies. They both received community control terms of four years. Michael Jenkins, 32, pleaded guilty to the same counts on Dec. 31 and will be sentenced Feb. 8.
The case became public when indictments were returned against the eight on Sept. 17 after a six-month investigation by numerous city and county agencies across central Ohio and state organized crime investigators. A Marion County Sheriff's Office news release announcing the charges said 12 store chains in 11 counties were affected, with losses in excess of $75,000.
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According to Delaware County Assistant Prosecutor Doug Dumolt and investigators, Burkholder took items from the other members - who stole them - and then sold them at auctions, providing cash that other members used to buy drugs, chiefly heroin. They referred to Burkholder as "a fence," a common law enforcement term for an individual who sells stolen items.
For Lacy and Steve Shepard, Kroger's regional Loss Prevention Director, making sure the investigation led to a case against Burkholder was "critical," in Shepard's words. Otherwise, they said, another group could steal items and sell them off with his assistance.
"Unless you take down the head of the snake, then it's going to continue," Shepard said. He said he believed Burkholder may have worked with others in the past, but couldn't prove it. Delaware County Assistant Prosecutor Doug Dumolt said Burkholder and Wendy Emmons had a criminal history dating back to 1989.
In order to make a case against Burkholder, Lacy and Shepard said, they allowed the others to steal items and leave the premises, sometimes putting items out as bait, so agents could track them and confirm Burkholder purchased them.
Shepard said the theft ring itself would travel up and down U.S. 23, and Kroger stores in Mansfield, Marion, Delaware, Tiffin and Mount Gilead were all hit. Members would enter a store, fill a cart with items from one shelf, then run it out the door. Sometimes, up to three of them all ran carts out together.
"Sometimes they were recognized, but usually they just didn't care," Shepard said. He said that Kroger employees were trained to indirectly approach potential thieves but not try to stop them from leaving for safety reasons.
On Oct. 30, 2013, Marion Wal-Mart employees tried to stop Wendy Emmons after she stole items and she struck a loss prevention agent, cutting the worker's chin. This led her to receive probation, which was revoked last May after a Richland County theft charge. She's currently serving a two-year robbery sentence for the 2013 incident.
Shepard said that retail theft, like heroin use, has become "an epidemic" in central Ohio and the two are linked. People have always stolen items to get drug money, he said, but heroin "turned it up 10 notches" and now they see it "all day, every day."
He said Kroger's central Ohio outlets lost more than $2 million to organized retail theft groups last year.
shickey@marionstar.com
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