United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

LAMPERT KIDNAPPER SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 15 YEARS

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RENALDO M. ROSE, age 24, formerly of 231 Butler Street, Hamden, Connecticut, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen B. Burns in New Haven to 181 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his orchestration of and participation in the December 24, 2002 robbery of a United Parcel Service truck in New Haven, Connecticut, and the January 10, 2003, kidnapping of Edward S. Lampert.

On January 27, 2004, ROSE pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce, two counts of interference with interstate commerce, and one count of carrying a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. Judge Burns sentenced ROSE to 121 months of imprisonment on the two conspiracy counts and the two interference with interstate commerce counts, and sentenced Rose to a mandatory consecutive 60-month term of imprisonment on the firearm count.

When he pleaded guilty, ROSE admitted that on December 24, 2002, he, along with Shemone Gordon, Devon Harris and a juvenile known as "L.J.," robbed a United Parcel Service truck in New Haven. ROSE also admitted that beginning in approximately October 2002 and continuing until in or about January 12, 2003, he and Shemone Gordon conspired to kidnap and extort money from Edward S. Lampert and ESL Investments, Inc., Lampert's company. In December 2002, after the UPS robbery, ROSE and Gordon asked Harris and L.J. to join the scheme to kidnap and extort money from Lampert. ROSE further admitted that on January 10, 2003, he, Gordon, Harris and L.J. kidnapped Edward S. Lampert at gun point and held him during the weekend at a Days Inn Motel in Hamden, before releasing Lampert in Greenwich during the early morning hours of January 12th.

As disclosed in previous court proceedings, Lampert was ultimately released by the kidnappers in exchange for a promise to leave approximately $40,000 in cash for the abductors several days later in a trash can in a Wendy's restaurant in Greenwich, Connecticut. After Lambert's release, ROSE telephoned another individual in New Haven on January 18, 2003 and asked that individual to retrieve the money. The individual declined.

On January 18, 2003, ROSE was detained in Canada and subsequently returned to the United States. On February 26, 2003, United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons ordered ROSE detained pending trial as both a risk of flight and a danger to the community.

ROSE is the first defendant who participated in this scheme to be sentenced. On March 4, 2003, Devon Harris waived indictment and pleaded guilty to six felony counts. On March 6, 2003, Shemone Gordon also waived indictment and pleaded guilty to six felony counts. Harris and Gordon were arrested based upon federal criminal complaints on January 13, 2003, and have been detained since their arrests.

A fourth individual, who was a juvenile under federal law at the time of his arrest and was identified as L.J. in federal court, originally was arrested federally in January 2003 and charged with a violation of the federal juvenile delinquency laws. The federal charges against L.J. subsequently were dismissed in favor of his prosecution as an adult in state court. On October 28, 2003, L.J. pleaded guilty in state court in Stamford to kidnapping in the first degree with a firearm and robbery in the first degree of Edward Lampert. On November 18, 2003, L.J. pleaded guilty in state court in New Haven to charges relating to the UPS robbery.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Greenwich, New Haven, Hamden, and East Haven police departments. The case is being prosecuted by United States Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor and Assistant United States Attorney James J. Finnerty.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov