KENTWOOD, Mich. — Just three weeks after she was placed on probation in a shoplifting case, a 19-year-old Grand Rapids woman went on a multi-state buying binge using stolen credit card numbers from dozens of victims.
Sabrina M. Lopez and a teen accomplice amassed $33,800 in merchandise and gift cards between mid-March and late April, court records show.
The spending spree came to an end when Kentwood police were able to connect Lopez to myriad losses at the Kohl’s department store at Woodland Mall and at other locations.
Lopez, who has prior convictions for thefts at JCPenney and Meijer, appeared in court on Thursday, Aug. 8, for the latest batch of charges.
She pleaded guilty to conducting criminal enterprises – a 20-year felony.
The criminal statute is often used when defendants work together to pull off high-end property crimes, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said. It is not uncommon to see losses in the thousands of dollars, he said.
“It’s not just an isolated incident; it’s a group that’s going through and doing whatever the activity is,’’ Becker said. “It’s doing it multiple times that really pulls in the criminal enterprise charge.’’
Kentwood police say Lopez and 18-year-old Makisa F. Daramy obtained Kohl’s charge card numbers from an unidentified third party.
They used the stolen credit card numbers to make purchases at Kohl’s stores in Michigan, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio and Missouri.
“They did physically drive to seven different states where they used credit card numbers they obtained from a third party,’’ Kentwood Police Capt. Bryan Litwin said. “If it didn’t work, they’d try a different number or leave.’’
This went on for a little more than six weeks. The scheme started to unravel after an April 26 visit to the Kohl’s at Woodland Mall.
Kentwood police officer Erin Kitchka stopped and identified the pair; they had used credit card numbers to buy more than $700 in merchandise. They were arrested after it was determined the purchases were made using stolen credit card numbers.
The two linked all of the fraudulent purchases to their own Kohl’s loyalty rewards cards, Kentwood detective Mike Coval wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
“Lopez has been linked to credit card fraud at the Kentwood store 10 different times for a loss of thousands of dollars,’’ Coval wrote. “Daramy has been linked to fraud in Kentwood, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Lansing and many more locations and U.S. states.’’
The two were arrested in June. Daramy, who turns 19 later this month, was also charged with conducting a criminal enterprise. She has a hearing scheduled for Aug. 15 in Kent County Circuit Court. Daramy is free on bond.
Lopez is being held on a $200,000 bond. In addition to the criminal enterprise case, she was cited for violating probation on a 2018 conviction for attempted retail fraud.
A judge in February put Lopez on probation for attempted first-degree retail fraud stemming from an incident in August of 2018 at the Meijer store in Lowell.
Lopez concealed merchandise in a laundry hamper, which she took out of the store. Lopez told police she agreed to steal the items for $200 and turn it over to a person she met on the “offerup.com’’ website, court records show.
A year earlier, she was arrested on a shoplifting complaint at the JCPenney store at Woodland Mall.
Lopez, then 17, filled a shopping cart with merchandise and wheeled it out of the store while a co-defendant kept a clerk distracted.
She was placed on probation for the July, 2017 crime. Before sentencing, Lopez wrote a letter to Kent County Circuit Court Judge George J. Quist, asking for leniency.
“I will never steal again,’’ she wrote. Lopez will appear before Quist in late September for sentencing in the latest case.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter