ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that James Civiletti, 34, of Greece, NY, was sentenced to serve 14 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford for conspiracy to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce. Co-defendant Chad Lewis Jr., 20, also from Greece, NY, received the same sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi stated that between December 2021 and October 17, 2024, Lewis Jr. conspired with a group of serial larcenists including Amanda Reeves and Shabon Banks in a retail theft operation involving the New York Gold Diamond Pawn Shop. The shop is owned by co-defendant Dominic Sprague and managed by Civiletti.
Lewis Jr. and other larcenists stole new-in-box items from store shelves regularly and sold them to the pawn shop at a fraction of their retail value. The pawn shop then resold these items on eBay at higher prices for significant profits. The shop purchased 37,936 stolen items from Lewis Jr., Banks, and Reeves over more than 670 transactions for $290,000 while victim-retailers suffered losses of approximately $1,160,000.
Reeves, Banks, and Sprague have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations under Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan; the Internal Revenue Service under Special Agent-in-Charge Harry Chavis; the Greece Police Department under Chief Michael Wood; and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Todd Baxter.
