A pair of thieves from Colorado had a bold argument for why they should get a lesser charge: the items they stole were on sale.
Michael Green, 50, and Byron Bolden, 37, were formally sentenced this month after receiving convictions for retail theft at a Kohl’s department store in Parker, Colorado. The department store dubbed the pair the “KitchenAid Mixer Crew” due to their alleged association with other retail thefts.
Both men were arrested after being identified from surveillance footage.
Most notably, defense lawyers for the two men “suggested to a jury that their clients should only face a lesser misdemeanor charge because some of the items they stole were being offered ‘on sale’”, according to the district attorney’s office presiding over the case.
The argument was focused on the Colorado law which stipulates theft under $2,000 is a misdemeanor offense, with theft between $2,000 to $5,000 classified as a class 6 felony. The documented value of the stolen items from Kohl’s was $2,094.98.
“Just because an item is ‘on sale’ doesn’t mean it’s free to steal, and these defendants now get to think about this lesson in jail and prison,” the district attorney John Kellner said in a press release. “Retailers in our community are fed up with theft and my office will actively prosecute these offenders.”
Retail theft has been reportedly rising in the US in recent years, but many reports relied on faulty data. The National Retail Federation recently retracted a claim that “organized retail crime” accounted for “nearly half” of the shopping industry’s $94.5bn losses due to “shrink” in 2021 and was up by 26.5%. Retailers such as Walgreens have admitted exaggerating the issue of shrinkage, which includes all inventory loss due to theft, fraud or damage.
Both Green and Bolden were convicted of felony theft. Green was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Bolden was sentenced to days in jail with credit for time served and 18 months of probation.
Kohl’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
