What did Pastor Robert Dell do? Charges explored in wake of Home Depot crime ring saga

A Florida pastor Robert Dell made headlines after he was accused of stealing items from Home Depot and reselling them on platforms like eBay. As per reports by Business Insider, he earned millions through the alleged crime ring, which he ran with the help of his mother, wife, and others.

Dell is a former pastor of The Rock Church and the former director of a halfway house in St. Petersburg that helps individuals battling drug addiction.

According to the press release by Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody, he took advantage of his position and reportedly threatened recovering drug addicts to steal for him. He would then recover the stolen items from them and resell them via his eBay account, which was named Anointed Liquidator.

"Our FORCE taskforce shut down his criminal operation stealing millions of dollars worth of merchandise from Home Depot stores across the state to resell the items on eBay. We will not tolerate organized retail theft in Florida and my office will continue to combat these criminal organizations," Moody said.

The press release also stated that Dell's co-conspirator used to steal from Home Depot around five to six times a day.

Dell and his four associates were arrested for stealing items worth over $1.4 million from several stores. However, Home Depot suspects that he operated the crime ring for above 10 years, resulting in losses of over $5 million.

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Pastor Robert Dell has been charged with racketeering and more for allegedly stealing from Home Depot

Scott Glenn, the Vice President of asset protection for Home Depot spoke to the Wall Street Journal and said that Robert Dell was a ringleader. He said that Dell would tell the people in the group to steal things, which he would then sell at a high price online.

He further said:

"A successful organized retail crime organization has to have somebody pulling the strings."

As per the press release, he would steal Milwaukee, DeWalt, and other branded items from Home Depot stores in Citrus, Manatee, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota.

The press note also mentioned the names of four co-conspirators, including Robert's wife Jaclyn Dell, 39, Karen Dell, 72, who is Robert Dell's mother, Jessica Wild, 40, and Daniel Mace, 36.

According to the reports, Robert, Jaclyn, and Karen were arrested on August 1 as the Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement executed a search warrant at Robert Dell's home. They have all been arrested and charged for the alleged crime. The charges against the pastor include conspiracy to commit racketeering, racketeering, and dealing in stolen property as an organizer, which are all felonies.

His wife Jaclyn Dell was arrested on the charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering, while Robert's mother Karen was arrested on charges of dealing in stolen property.

In addendum to this, there has been a spike in cases of retail theft in the past few months, as reported by retail giants including Home Depot, Target, and others. Apart from this, several pictures and videos of mobs looting retail stores have also been circulating online recently.