Woman jailed for selling stolen goods onlinehttp://cjonline.com/news/2011-01-12/woman-sentenced-selling-stolen-goods-ebayA Lawrence woman was ordered to pay more than a half-million dollars and sentenced to eight years in federal prison for selling stolen goods on eBay, U.S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom said Wednesday.
Carrie Marie Neighbors , 49, was found guilty by a federal jury in September of 12 counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.
During trial, prosecutors showed that Neighbors operated a business called Yellow House Quality Appliances, 1904 Massachusetts, in Lawrence. The business bought and sold power tools, clothing, appliances, electronics and other items, many of which were sold on the eBay online auction website.
Neighbors took part in a conspiracy from January 2004 through July 2006 to purchase stolen items and sell them on eBay, Grissom's office said in a news release. Prosecutors said many of the items purchased were new and still in boxes and that Neighbors paid about 50 percent of their retail value and resold the times for a profit. Once she received payment through Pay Pal accounts or received payment directly from the purchaser, she would mail the stolen items to purchasers, Grissom's office said.
Prosecutors said Neighbors used some of the proceeds from the sale of stolen items to purchase other items that had been stolen and to make payments on her residence at 1104 Andover, in Lawrence.
Neighbors was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit more than $616,000.
