- Florida pastor Robert Dell, 57, faces multiple charges for running an organized retail crime ring.
- Dell used his past positions as a pastor and halfway house director to get people to steal for him.
A Florida pastor has been charged with running an organized retail crime ring, where he's accused of pocketing millions from selling items his associates stole from Home Depot online.
Robert Dell, a Pinellas County preacher, is accused of operating a multimillion-dollar theft ring and faces charges including racketeering and dealing in stolen property, per a press release from Florida's attorney general office in August.
According to the press release, Dell used his former positions as a pastor at The Rock Church and director of a halfway house for recovering drug addicts to threaten and manipulate people to steal for him.
The investigation revealed that Dell's co-conspirators stole from Home Depot stores five to six times daily, per the press release. The press release added that stolen items were then sold under Dell's eBay account, "Anointed Liquidator."
Besides Dell, four other associates, including Dell's wife and mother, were identified and charged as co-conspirators.
The 57-year-old sold $3 million worth of stolen items online since 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing Home Depot, as well as a search warrant affidavit it had seen.
Scott Glenn, Home Depot's vice president of asset protection, told The Journal that the number of thefts in Tampa has dropped after Dell and his associates were charged. Glenn, however, wasn't too hopeful that things would get better from here.
"Somebody else will rise up and probably start doing this in the absence of this group that was busted," Glenn told The Journal.
Retailers across the US have seen a rise in shoplifting this past year. According to the National Retail Federation's most recent Retail Security Survey, published last month, retailers lost over $40 billion to shoplifting and organized retail crime.
Representatives for Home Depot did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.