A warehouse supervisor from Texas has been sentenced to spend time in federal prison for the theft of Fitbit devices estimated to be worth around $2 million. Dwight Oliver, 40, from Grand Prairie, Texas, has been given a 15-month prison sentence for mail fraud charges, as reported by WISH-TV. While employed at a warehouse in Plainfield, Oliver lifted the fitness trackers and later sold them online.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Indiana noted that the thefts occurred between June 2021 and September 2022, a period during which Oliver was supposed to be overseeing the safe transit of bulk orders to Amazon fulfillment centers. In order to carry out the thefts undetected, it was found that Oliver disabled GPS tracking devices on warehouse sprinter vans, according to the investigations. “Modern eCommerce depends modern logistics and supply chains, including many businesses in the Southern District of Indiana. Criminals who abuse their positions of trust to steal from customers and their employers cause harm to our economy and raise prices for everyone,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, in a statement obtained by FOX59.
The investigation unveiled that Oliver proceeded to sell the thieved Fitbits on eBay by posing as a third-party merchant, thus receiving a total of $687,540.53 from the illegal sales. These transactions were facilitated using the United States Post Office for shipping purposes, detailed by The Indiana Lawyer. In response to the sentencing, the FBI’s acting special agent in charge in Indianapolis, Danny Youmara, noted that the serious consequences handed down in the case should be viewed as a stark warning to those who might exploit online platforms for illegal gain…