July 17, 2022
Woman has now pleaded guilty in federal court to leading a retail theft organization that netted $4.5 million.
Federal prosecutors say 15 others also pleaded guilty. (out of 29 charged)
They say Linda Been’s organization cost area stores around $10 million in losses.
Documents say Been had “boosters” who would go and steal lists of items from area stores like Reasor’s, Sprouts, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Walgreens, CVS, GNC and others.
Then, “fences” sold the stolen goods on places like eBay and Amazon.
For example, on Sept. 4, 2019, several defendants stole $1,329 worth of over-the-counter products, such as Flonase, Mucinex, Nexium, Zegerid, and Allegra, from a Reasor’s in Jenks, Oklahoma.
Normally, fences paid Been half the market value for each item.
She then paid her boosters half of her expected profit for each item they brought to her.
She paid them through PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App.
Been gave her boosters detailed lists of items to steal and how much she’d pay for each one.
They stole products from stores in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Colorado and Been paid the traveling expenses for her boosters and paid their bond whenever they got arrested, so they get back to stealing.
The stolen items were delivered to locations in Tulsa, Sand Springs, and Cleveland, Oklahoma.
The indictment says Billy Osborne and Juston Osborne, stored all the stolen items at their homes and businesses and got them ready for bulk shipments to fences outside the state.
Both of those guys also pleaded guilty.
The others who pled guilty include:
Brandon Baldwin, Ambermeloni Crawford, Amber Clason, Toni Crisp, Derek Enloe, Corey Fields, Sharee Galloway, Ashley Gill, Brittany Harkins, Amanda Johnson, Daniel Payne, Katrina Robison, and Karissa Russell.
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