NEWARK – Six people have been charged with conspiring to transport stolen property derived from burglarizing consignment shops across multiple states, including the Queen May store in Cape May City, and taking designer handbags and other items, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba has announced.
Marco Honesty, 28, Richard Francis, 35, Dominique Hayes, 29, Deandre Dudley, 32, Ilon Coles-Melson, 21, and Marcus Gallmon, 21, residents of Washington, D.C., and Maryland, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to sell and receive stolen property that had crossed state lines.
They were processed in Newark federal court; three were detained after their hearings and three posted bond.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, the defendants are part of a commercial burglary ring that committed at least 18 burglaries in multiple states between March and November 2024, including several in New Jersey, as well as in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.
On several dates, the defendants broke into consignment shops in the middle of the night using sledgehammers and other objects, stole dozens of designer handbags and other items from each shop, and transported the stolen goods across state lines.
In Cape May, three people smashed the glass in a door to get into the Queen May store on Washington Street on Sunday, May 5, 2024, making off with a number of high-end items, police said.
Police Chief Dekon Fashaw said security cameras showed the three using a sledgehammer to break the glass in the front door of the shop in the 300 block of the Washington Street Mall at 2:47 a.m.
Fashaw said the suspects broke multiple display cases and stole jewelry and numerous high-end bags, specifically Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermes, with some strewn across the mall area in front of the store.
Cape May police and Prosecutor’s Office detectives processed the scene and recovered video surveillance footage, DNA evidence and items left behind by the suspects.
A video posted on Facebook shows the intruders breaking the glass, entering the store and taking items: https://www.facebook.com/reel/809724167276337.
Police also said there was a getaway driver.
The charge of conspiracy to sell or receive stolen property carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine or twice the amount of money involved in the offense, whichever is greater.
Anyone who believes they may be a victim of the theft group or has information about them or the burglaries is asked to call 866-DHS-2-ICE, or a local field office.
