A Texas woman who admitted to a shoplifting and selling conspiracy that spanned 19 years has been sentenced to federal prison.
Last week, 63-year-old Dallas resident Kim Richardson—who previously pleaded guilty in December—was ordered to serve 54 months in federal prison. The sentence, per a press release from the Department of Justice, will be followed by an additional three years of supervised released. Richardson must pay $3.8 million in restitution.
The investigation was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service, ultimately finding that Richardson shoplifted items while traveling throughout the country during the time between August 2000 and April 2019. The stolen items were then sold by Richardson on eBay, as well as via direct online sales, before being transported to customers via FedEx, UPS, and standard mail.
Investigators said that Richardson used "shoplifting tools" that were capable of disabling security devices attached to certain items and added that she directly "assisted in" the subsequent sale of the stolen items. Four PayPal accounts linked to Richardson ultimately received an estimated $3.8 million from buyers during the operation.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said last week that Richardson would be allowed to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility, the location of which was not named in the press release.
When announcing the sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinda Beek noted that identifying each and every victim of the years-long operation would be a "virtually impossible" task.
