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July 16, 2003
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced that three people pled guilty earlier this week in a scheme to defraud Home Depot stores out of more than $400,000 by putting fake labels on faucets, lights and other pricey home improvement items. John Patrick Hay, Anthony Davenport, and Linda Broderick, pled guilty in Oakland federal court to one count each of conspiring to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 United States Code Section 371.
Mr. Hay, Mr. Davenport and Ms. Broderick, ages 58, 59 and 50 respectively, all of whom are visiting the United States from Ireland, were first indicted December 12, 2002 by a federal grand jury. In pleading guilty before District Judge Claudia Wilken, the defendants admitted that created labels for faucets, lights and other items on sale at various Home Depot stores. The labels included lower prices. The defendants then entered the stores, affixed the labels, and purchased the items from Home Depot at the lower prices based on the fake labels. Then, after they had the items in their possession, the defendants admitted that they peeled off the fake stickers, went back to Home Depot, and returned the items for the higher, original price.
Home Depot gave the defendants store credit for their returns. They sold some of those store credits for cash. In pleading guilty, Linda Broderick admitted that she had a Bank of America account in which she deposited more than $125,000 in proceeds of store credit sold as part of the conspiracy. In a related civil forfeiture case, the three defendants agreed to forfeit $600,000.
The sentencing of the defendants is scheduled for September 15, 2003 before Judge Wilken in Oakland federal court. The maximum statutory penalty for conspiracy is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution. In their plea agreement John Patrick Hay, Anthony Davenport, and Linda Broderick, agreed to pay $400,000 in restitution. However, the actual sentence will be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and will be imposed in the discretion of the Court.
The prosecution is the result of a six-month investigation by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jonathan Schmidt is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Nancy Dick.
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Related court documents and information may be found on the District Court website at www.cand.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.cand.uscourts/gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415)436-7181.
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