A Tucson man, Joseph James Mierzejewski, was sentenced to one year in prison, followed by 4.0 years of probation after previously having pled guilty to one count of Theft and one count of Attempted Trafficking in Stolen Property.
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Mierzejewski was indicted in April of this year and accused of participating in an Organized Retail Theft ring that defrauded various retail stores in Southern Arizona including Target, Home Depot, and Walmart.
Mierzejewski would enter retail stores and place an incorrect Universal Product Code (UPC) familiar to the store on an item, however, the switched UPC code included a significantly lower marked price than the retail value of the item Mierzejewski was purchasing. Mierzejewski would then pay the lower purchase price at the register and resell those same items at pawn shops for a profit.