A southern Ohio woman has been sentenced after Medina Township police say she ran a years-long organized retail fraud scheme that targeted many Home Depot stores across several states.
Tracy A. James, of Peebles, pleaded guilty to one count of telecommunications fraud, a second-degree felony, on Feb. 27, according to a Medina Township Police Department Facebook post.
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Investigators said the conspiracy began in 2018 and involves over 1,700 fraudulent transactions at multiple Home Depot locations in Ohio and Kentucky.
James allegedly utilized counterfeit driver’s licenses and several aliases to return products she had not purchased, gaining store credit through fraudulent return transactions. Authorities claimed the activity took place at stores in Medina, Wadsworth, Brunswick, Miamisburg, and Milford, Ohio, as well as places in Kentucky.
Investigators discovered that the operation generated around $266,699 in bogus shop credit, which James then used to purchase products that were later resold online, police said.
The Medina County Prosecutor’s Office took up the case after the investigation and secured an indictment on the telecommunications fraud allegation.
Police said James was sentenced to five years of community control monitoring, 180 days in the Medina County Jail, and 100 hours of community service. The court also ordered her to make $266,699 in compensation to Home Depot.
Medina Township police conducted the investigation in collaboration with Home Depot’s organized retail crime investigators and the Medina County Prosecutor’s Office.
