Pair admit roles in baby-food theft ring
JEFFERSON COUNTY – Two people prosecutors identified as the ringleaders of an infant-formula theft ring await sentencing on racketeering and conspiracy charges after pleading guilty late last week.
Tam Huynh, 46, of Aurora, pled guilty Friday to racketeering, a class-two violation of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act. Huynh’s wife, Thuy “Tien” Nguyen, 39, entered a guilty pleas to a class-five felony charge of conspiracy to commit theft, also on Friday. Huynh, Nguyen and seven other suspects were indicted last summer on charges of operating a criminal enterprise that netted more than $20,000 worth of baby formula stolen from merchants in cities across the metro area and Colorado Springs, then selling it at a discount.
“Some members of the criminal enterprise are alleged to have recruited people to steal
Thuy Nguyen
the products, some stole the items, and others acted as lookouts,” the District Attorney’s Office said when indictments lodging 78 charges against the ring’s participants was revealed in August. “Tam Huynh and Thuy Nguyen are suspected of having acted as ‘fences’, finding buyers and distributing the products,” according to the August announcement.
Between January 2008 and March 2009, prosecutors said, the suspects filled shopping carts with baby formula at retail stores, then left without paying for it. The stolen goods then would be handed over to other members of the group, who would sell it on the Internet or to local buyers.
Proceeds from the illegal enterprise were shared among the members of the group for their daily living expenses, gambling and illegal drugs, according to investigators.
DA’s Office investigators linked up with investigators from the Lakewood and Aurora police departments operation came to the attention of law enforcement after officials from Target Stores, which suffered the greatest losses, reported repeated theft of baby formula. The first indictment in the case was returned in June
The theft ring also preyed on Safeway, Albertson’s, King Soopers and Wal-Mart stores, prosecutors said..
Huynh and Nguyen will be sentenced on May 3, 2010.
The others under indictment are Do Hieu, 37; Erica Martinez, 26; Joseph Nieto, 21; Matthew Nieto, 27; Vinh Van Vu, 28; Hahn Thi Tran, 39; and Kieu Tri Huynh, 47. They are in various stages of the court process.
