U.S.

Department of Justice

United States Attorney

District of Maryland

Rod J. Rosenstein 36 S. Charles Street 410-209-4800

United States Attorney Fourth Floor TTY/TDD:410-962-4462
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2692 410-209-4885
Vickie E. LeDuc FAX 410-962-3091
Public Information Officer Vickie.LeDuc@usdoj.gov

March 8, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md MARCIA MURPHY at (410) 209-4885

CONSPIRATOR SENTENCED TO 46 MONTHS IN PRISON IN SCHEME TO

LAUNDER $20 MILLION IN PROCEEDS IN STOLEN MERCHANDISE

Laundered Millions of Dollars in Proceeds of Stolen Over-the-Counter Medicines, Health and

Beauty Aid Products, Gift Cards, DVDs, Tools and other Items

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg sentenced Spencer Michael
Garonzik, age 44,of Baltimore, today to 46 months in prison, followed by six months of home
detention and two years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod
J. Rosenstein; Acting Postal Inspector in Charge Robert B. Wemyss of the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service - Washington Division; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police
Department; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III; and Special Agent in Charge Rebecca
Sparkman of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation.

“We are pursuing not just the thieves who steal merchandise and drive up the costs for
honest businesses, but also the downstream criminals who create a market for stolen property and
launder the cash that it generates,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “This ongoing
investigation aims to reduce retail theft by disrupting the market for stolen goods.”

According to his plea agreement, from 2007 to March 2010, Garonzik, and his co-
conspirators conducted monetary transactions involving the sale of mass quantities of stolen
over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aid products, gift cards, DVDs, tools and other
merchandise. Shoplifters, also known as “boosters,” stole products from Target, Safeway,
Wal-Mart, Kohl’s and other retailers in Maryland and other states. Pawn shops bought large
amounts of stolen items from the boosters. Garonzik was an owner of We Buy Pawn Shop, where
Justin Mayhew and Daniel Filip Mimer worked; Michael Ender and others worked at Fast Money
and Cash N A Flash Pawn Shops; and Warren Culver worked at Blue Diamond Pawn Shop and at
TS Liquidators, owned by Jerome Stal. Louis Leitch, Sr. and others were owners of E-Z Money
Pawn Shop and 2Brothers Liquidators, Inc.; and Jared Lee Ezra and others owned Shine Corner
Pawn Shop, and We Buy.

Garonzik, Leitch, Mayhew, Mimer, Ender, Ezra, Culver, and Stal were responsible for
receiving some of the stolen products at the locations where they worked. Mayhew, Reed,
Culver and others “cleaned” the stolen items, meaning that the security labels and retail tags
from the stolen products were removed. Co-defendants Robert Anthony Reed, Michael B. Levy,
and others were responsible for picking up the stolen products from the pawn shops and
delivering them to TS Liquidators. Garonzik worked with co-defendant Jerome Stal to purchase
and transport stolen material. Stal and others, including Yooho Weon, also had on-line auctions
sites, such as eBay and Amazon.com, where they would sell the stolen products far below
normal retail value. The stolen products were then delivered to unsuspecting customers via the
U.S. mail.

The defendants received payment from the sale of the stolen items by interstate wire
transfers using PayPal accounts and through various financial institutions in Maryland. For
example, co-defendant Jason Logue owned JML Enterprises, Eastern Trade Center, Harford
Exchange, Patapsco Exchange, and other entities. From February 2006 to March 2007, Logue
made approximately 152 cash withdrawals totaling $1,429,780, from his account at the Bank of
America. Logue’s currency transactions ranged from $8,000 to $9,800, all below the $10,000
federal threshold for reporting cash transactions. Logue knowingly caused such structured
transactions to avoid reporting requirements in connection with the sale of stolen over-the-
counter medications, health and beauty aids, DVDs, tools and other products.

On March 25, 2010, agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Baltimore County
Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at the
liquidation shop and several pawn shops. Agents recovered well over $1 million in stolen
merchandise, approximately $1 million in bank accounts and over $140,000 in cash, and 44
firearms. Although the entire conspiracy involved approximately $20 million in stolen
merchandise, between $2.5 to $7 million in stolen product was reasonably foreseeable to
Garonzik.

In all, fourteen defendants have pleaded guilty to their roles in this scheme, including all
the defendants listed above.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys
Kwame J. Manley and Richard Kay, who prosecuted the case.