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Since its creation in early 2024, a division within the Office of Attorney General has launched more than 170 investigations into organized retail theft, Attorney General David Sunday said Tuesday.
Act 42, signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro in December 2023, added personnel in the attorney general's office to combat organized retail theft and created stricter penalties for those convicted of participating in schemes involving at least $2,500 in stolen goods.
"We've made more than 100 arrests, and we have served more than 222 search warrants and recovered millions of dollars in stolen property and counterfeit merchandise," Sunday said at a press conference. "Those numbers represent much more than statistics. They represent businesses that have been protected, employees and customers that have been kept safer and criminal organizations that have been held accountable."
The organized retail theft unit includes five prosecutors and up to 10 special agents, according to a fiscal note for Senate Bill 569, the legislation that became Act 42.
The law sets penalties on a sliding scale based on the monetary value of losses, with thefts involving more than $50,000 classified as first-degree felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
"Organized retail crime is not some victimless crime. That's very important. It victimizes not only the targeted business but also their employees and customers, who can be traumatized by that experience," Sunday said.
"We are all victimized by the higher prices that result in these brazen criminal activities at a time when affordability is on everyone's mind. Our efforts to combat organized retail crime is one of law enforcement's ways of making life more affordable," he said.
In addition, criminals may use trafficking victims to carry out the crimes and use proceeds from organized retail theft to fund other criminal enterprises, Sunday said.
When lawmakers were debating the legislation, the bill's prime sponsor, Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, said the purpose was to create tools to target the masterminds behind organized retail theft schemes.
"We are not talking about simple shoplifting. We are talking about rampant rioting and looting," Argall said in floor comments ahead of the Senate vote on the bill.
He added that the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, in supporting the bill, said, "Our goal is not to target vulnerable individuals being leveraged or manipulated into stealing, let alone those who are shoplifting to feed themselves or their families. Rather, we want the focus to be on the criminals higher up."
And although the term "organized retail crime" may conjure images of mobs storming shops, overwhelming staff and making off with inventory, Sunday highlighted a variety of more sophisticated enterprises that the unit has uncovered.
In one case, two people in Allegheny County allegedly purchased secondhand electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, cards at a discount and used them for$178,000 in purchases at Sam's Club and other stores, according to the attorney general's office. They then resold the products at a deli and restaurant. The pair allegedly used the EBT cards for more than 800 purchases, including beef and chicken, bread, water, soda and other beverages.
The defendants are awaiting trial, scheduled for October, according to court documents.
In a second case, the attorney general's office announced in August that two people from Illinois had been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $11,000 in merchandise from western Pennsylvania stores through a gift card fraud scheme. Sunday said the individuals arrested are believed to have stolen more than $180,000 in merchandise nationwide using this ploy.
In another case, three people were arrested in March for allegedly conspiring to use stolen Lowe's account information to make thousands of dollars in purchases. Investigators say the trio used the stolen account numbers from five customers to buy construction materials at stores in Columbia, Franklin, Monroe, Warren and York counties between Aug. 4 and Sept. 30, 2025.
One of the individuals arrested is due in court in October, while another has already pleaded guilty. Francis Dejesus-Valerio, 35, of Reading, pleaded guilty to one count of organized retail theft, a second-degree felony, while eight other counts were dropped. He was sentenced to time served and paroled. Under the terms of his sentence, Dejesus-Valerio is required to repay over $55,000 in restitution.