Six people have been arrested in what authorities say was a widespread, organized theft ring targeting big-box stores in the area.
U.S. Attorney Trini Ross announced the arrests Thursday afternoon. All six suspects are from Rochester.
Over several years, the group allegedly stole items from stores including Target, Walmart, Home Depot and Kohl's and resold them through New York Gold and Diamond Pawn Shop in Greece.
“We are not going to sit back and allow these types of crimes to continue,” Ross said, continuing: “We are going to spend the time and the effort to prosecute all involved in these types of conduct because it is a quality-of-life issue to the consumers and the communities where these business(es) operate.”
Those arrested are:
- Shabon Banks, 41
- Amanda Reeves, 40
- Chad Lewis Jr., 20 (Reeves’ son)
- Chanc Lewis, 22 (thought to be Reeves’ niece)
- Dominic Sprague, 40
- James Civiletti, 33
They face multiple charges ranging from fraud to money laundering to conspiracy. Banks allegedly used her daughter’s identity to avoid detection. She also is charged with identity theft.
The alleged thefts occurred on a near-daily basis, totaling more than 35,000 items ranging from tools to appliance parts. Those items often were then taken directly to the pawnshop operated by Sprague and Civiletti. Authorities recorded at least 670 individual sales, totaling more than $290,000, making them the shop’s biggest customer. The two men then resold the items for a profit on their “ampletools” eBay account, records show.
Pawnshops are required to keep a record of items they take in to help police identify stolen items. But in this case, the shop operators allegedly tried to obscure the thefts by omitting or concealing identifying information like model numbers.
The large quantity of new, in-box items being moved, though, caught the attention of Greece police in November 2023.
“It didn't look right. It didn't smell right,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Rossi, who is handling the case. “And the Greece investigators ... rightly understood that this was indicative of theft.”
Rossi said the number of thefts and dollar amounts documented thus far are a “small sample” of the suspected fraud in the case.
"There have been, in this district, previous prosecutions of this nature," Rossi said. "And what you find are groups of larcenists that work in tandem, that know each other, and go to the same place to offload their stolen merchandise over and over and over until that offloading place is eliminated. And so it's, unfortunately, a trend."
Earlier this month, Tony Orlando Camacho, 48, of Greece, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being convicted of buying and reselling more than $250,000 in stolen retail items. Last year, it was Devin Tribunella, 39, of Rochester, sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to forfeit several luxury cars after being convicted of using his Royal Crown Pawn & Jewelry in Rochester to buy and re-sell items stolen from many of the same big box stores allegedly targeted in this case. In that case the total items sold and shipped were valued at $3.2 million. In this case, estimates are upwards of $2.4 million.
"The actual theft is very difficult to calculate, but it's widespread — and it's really large," Rossi said.
Sprague and Civiletti are known to authorities, both being on probation after they were convicted earlier this year of running an illegal gambling operation. And Greece police said they repeatedly warned the men about the foursome and that the items were stolen.
Police claim they confronted Sprague in February about one of the stolen item purchases allegedly involving Banks, and that he responded: “You’re finally getting them ... finally. Jesus, I’ve been waiting.” He allegedly called Banks a “frequent flyer.”
Records show Banks had been to the shop three times in the previous three days, selling a total of 122 new-in-box items for a combined $1,345.
After that, the pawnshop recorded increased purchases from Chad Lewis Jr., records show. On the same day as the police interaction, the shop allegedly bought 55 new-in-box items from Lewis, paying him $390, records show.
A month later, police claim they confronted Civiletti about Lewis Jr. and were told that he, too, was a “frequent flyer.” Shortly after that, the role of selling stolen merchandise allegedly shifted to Chanc Lewis, who continued taking items to the pawnshop as recently as this month, racking up 37 sales for a total of $14,845.
The suspects’ defense attorneys did not immediately respond to messages or were just beginning to review case materials and not prepared to comment.
