Wal-Mart employee jailed in near $60K retail theft scheme
Bethlehem Township PA March 19 2018
A former Wal-Mart employee is accused of conspiring to steal nearly $60,000 in a theft scheme spanning three months.
Charged is Jatmarie Merced, 36, of the 1100 block of Amplex Street, Bethlehem.
Co-defendants previously named include: Kristopher Herrera, then 19, of the 1700 block of Third Street, Bethlehem Township; and Kory Cherry, Jared Lugo, Gabriel Pozo and David Burgos, no addresses provided. Court records state just Burgos didn’t work for Wal-Mart during the time of the alleged thefts.
Bethlehem Township Police Department detectives on Feb. 2, 2013 began investigating a series of thefts at the Wal-Mart, 3629 Nazareth Pike. A loss prevention officer reported Merced and the five others were stealing from the store from November 2012 to February 11, 2013.
Cherry in an interview with investigators reported witnessing Merced allegedly “under ring” televisions and other electronics, but create a “price check” instead of an actual sale.
The person would then walk away with the items, but Merced allegedly never took any money for the store and also conspired to later acquire some of the merchandise. Merced alone conspired to steal $7,240 worth of items, running the gamut from iPads and televisions to laptop computers and cellphones to gaming systems and DVDs, according to police.
The man repeatedly called and texted the woman, police said.
Investigators on March 6, 2013 obtained additional evidence, including files, documents and video surveillance footage. Other workers in interviews with police reported seeing Merced steal merchandise by “under ringing” and pointed her out to detectives on video surveillance footage.
Police said the loss for Wal-Mart by all six individuals in the scheme totals $57,288.
Cherry in interview with police revealed Herrera allegedly approached him to tell him how he could make “easy money.” Herrera would then conduct a price check on merchandise for a friend and then escort the friend out the door so that Wal-Mart greeters wouldn’t inquire about a receipt, police had said.
Herrera told Cherry he would receive $100 or more in the parking lot for his part in the thefts, according to police.
Lugo told police in interviews Herrera taught him how to fraudulently scan merchandise by putting the register on price check mode and deactivating the security device, pretending to scan the items.
Merced is charged with three counts theft, organized retail theft and receiving stolen property. She was arraigned last week before District Judge Robert Hawke, who set bail at $50,000.
In lieu of bail, Merced was sent to Northampton County Prison, where she remained Sunday.
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