Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
A former supervisor at a Plainfield warehouse has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for stealing $2 million worth of Fitbits from Amazon and selling them on eBay.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brookman also ordered Dwight Oliver, 40, now of Grand Prairie, Texas, to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution and serve one year of supervised release once he completes his prison term for mail fraud.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Indiana said that between June 2021 and September 2021 approximately $2 million worth of Fitbit devices went missing in transit to multiple Amazon fulfillment centers across the United States.
Through an internal investigation, Amazon discovered that the missing devices were associated with bulk purchase orders that had moved through the warehouse where Oliver worked.
Authorities said that Oliver disabled the GPS tracker of his employer’s sprinter van, allowing him to transport the stolen merchandise from the warehouse without detection by his employer.
Oliver posted the stolen devices for sale on eBay, representing himself as a legitimate third-party seller.
Oliver used the U.S. Post Office to mail 100 stolen Fitbit devices to buyers across the country, authorities said. In total, Oliver received approximately $687,540.53 for the sale of the stolen Fitbits.
FBI Indianapolis Acting Special Agent in Charge Danny Youmara said Olivers sentence should “serve as a strong reminder that the exploitation of online platforms won’t be tolerated. Theft of merchandise not only disrupts the digital marketplace but undermines the trust consumers place in e-commerce platforms.”
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.