ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Authorities arrested the leader of a St. Petersburg church for running a multimillion-dollar shoplifting ring across multiple counties in Florida.
Investigators with Florida's Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement and the Florida Attorney General's Office accused Robert Dell, founder of The Rock Church and Recovery Program, of stealing name-brand products from Home Depot stores throughout Pinellas, Hillsborough and five other Florida counties and selling them on eBay.
Dell's wife, Jaclyn Barrie Dell, and his mother, Karen Dell, were also charged with conspiracy to RICO and dealing in stolen property respectively.
According to a statement from the attorney general's office, Robert Dell had two additional accomplices, Daniel Mace and Jessica Wild, who stole most of the merchandise "under threat of abuse." Dell then allegedly sold the stolen goods under the eBay store name "Anointed Liquidator."
Investigators accused Dell of using his positions as a pastor and owner of a halfway house "to manipulate other vulnerable people to participate in the criminal scheme." They also said Home Depot suspects Dell ran his theft ring for more than 10 years.
Robert Dell is charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and dealing in stolen property as an organizer, along with additional charges of cocaine possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.
"This operation senses a clear message that Florida is relentless in our pursuit of justice and will not tolerate this criminal activity," Commissioner Wilton Simpson said in a statement from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "Together, we will continue to pursue a safer and more secure Florida for all its residents and visitors."
Attorney General Ashley Moody also celebrated the arrest in a written statement.
"Due to the success of FORCE, another retail theft crime ring is dismantled, and our Statewide Prosecutors continue to file charges against organized retail thieves. This pastor clearly skipped over the commandment, thou shall not steal," Moody said.