Authorities say ring thefts were widespread and suggest a larger trend

Six people were arrested in what authorities said was a large-scale, organized theft gang that targeted area wholesale markets.

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 the New York Gold and Diamond Pawn Shop in Greece.

“We will not sit back and allow this type of crime to continue,” Ross said, continuing: “We will devote the time and effort to prosecute everyone involved in this type of behavior because it is a quality measure of life for consumers and the communities in which these companies operate.”

Those arrested are:

• Chad Lewis Jr., 20 (Reeves’ son)

• Chanc Lewis, 22 (presumably Reeves’ niece)

They face numerous charges ranging from fraud to money laundering to conspiracy. Banks allegedly used her daughter’s identity to avoid detection. She is also accused of identity theft.

The alleged thefts occurred almost daily and involved a total of more than 35,000 items, from tools to equipment parts. These items were then often taken directly to Sprague and Civiletti’s pawn shop. Authorities recorded at least 670 individual sales totaling more than $290,000, making her the store’s largest customer. According to records, the two men then resold the items for a profit through their eBay account “ampletools.”

Pawn shops are required to keep records of the items taken to make it easier for police to identify stolen items. But in this case, the shop owners allegedly tried to conceal the thefts by omitting or concealing identifying information such as model numbers.

However, in November 2023, the large amount of new mail being transported caught the attention of the Greek police.

“It didn’t look right. It didn’t smell right,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Rossi, who is handling the case. “And the Greek investigators… rightly understood that this was an indication of theft.”

Rossi said the number of thefts and dollar amounts documented so far are only a “small sample” of the alleged fraud in this case.

“There have been prosecutions of this type before in this district,” Rossi said. “And what you find are groups of thieves who work together, who know each other, and who go to the same place over and over again to dump their stolen goods until that dumping site is broken up. And so, unfortunately, this is a trend.”

Earlier this month, 48-year-old Tony Orlando Camacho of Greece was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being convicted of buying and reselling more than $250,000 worth of stolen retail items. Last year, it was 39-year-old Devin Tribunella of Rochester who was sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to forfeit several luxury cars after he was found guilty of using his Royal Crown Pawn & Jewelry in Rochester to buy and resell stolen items to have the same large retail stores that were allegedly targeted in this case. In this case, the total value of items sold and shipped was $3.2 million. In this case, estimates are over $2.4 million.

“The actual theft is very difficult to calculate, but it is widespread – and it is really big,” Rossi said.

Sprague and Civiletti are known to authorities because they are both on probation after being convicted of illegal gambling activities earlier this year. And Greek police said they repeatedly warned the men about the foursome and the theft of the items.

Police allege they confronted Sprague in February about one of the stolen merchandise purchases in which Banks was allegedly involved, and he responded, “You’re finally…finally getting them. ‘Jesus, I’ve been waiting.'” He allegedly called Banks one “Frequent flyer”.

Records show Banks visited the store three times in the past three days and sold a total of 122 repackaged items for a total of $1,345.

After that, records show, the pawn shop began seeing increased purchases from Chad Lewis Jr. On the same day police interacted, the store allegedly purchased 55 repackaged items from Lewis and paid him $390 for them, records show.

A month later, police claimed they confronted Civiletti about Lewis Jr. and learned that he, too, was a “frequent flyer.” Shortly thereafter, the role of selling stolen goods was allegedly transferred to Chanc Lewis, who continued to bring items to the pawn shop later that month, making 37 sales for a total value of $14,845.

Defense attorneys for the suspects did not immediately respond to messages or were just beginning to review case materials and were unwilling to comment.