2 RI Men Accused Of Helping Retail Theft Ring Steal $1.6M Worth Of Merchandise

CRANSTON, RI — Two Rhode Island men are facing federal charges after prosecutors said they helped lead a theft ring that stole $1.6 million worth of items from retail stores nationwide, U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said Tuesday.

Norman Cipriano, 52, of Warwick, and Patrick Vigneau, 59, of Cranston, were charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen goods, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity.

Prosecutors said the arrest happened after the seizure of about 60,000 stolen items, primarily over-the-counter pharmaceutical products and cosmetics. According to court documents, the two men were high-level members of a retail theft crime ring that targeted retailers nationwide, and then resold the stolen goods in bulk to other retailers and people.

According to court documents, Cipriano and Vigneau were known in the organization as diverters. Diverters often set up shell companies, own warehouses where stolen merchandise is shipped, and act as suppliers for small to mid-size retail chains. These organizations frequently use e-commerce marketplaces to promote and offer their goods and use unregulated third-party processors such as PayPal to avoid detection.

As of Tuesday, agents and task force officers from the United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Warwick Police Department executed numerous search warrants in Warwick, Cranston, and Pawtucket, seizing enough stolen goods to fill three fully loaded 24-foot box trucks, prosecutors said. Authorities have also moved to freeze several bank and e-commerce accounts, and have seized more than two dozen boxes in transit via UPS.

According to prosecutors, this Rhode Island-based retail theft ring has netted roughly $12.3 million dollars in sales.

"The scale of the retail theft network whose alleged leaders we have charged today is staggering," Cunha said. "In addition to imposing higher prices on legitimate retail consumers, theft rings like this one put unsuspecting customers at risk from damaged, expired, or adulterated goods, and impose untold economic costs. Today's arrests and the disruption of this network reflects the kind of tenacity and dedication that this office and our partners will continue to bring to bear to combat this type of brazen criminality."

Court documents said these organized theft rings operates by dividing responsibilities among various members. At the first stage, these rings employ members known as "boosters," led by crew bosses who provide them with lists of items to be stolen from retail outlets, most often high-demand, high-priced products.

The stolen items are then turned over to "fencers," middlemen who work between the booster, crew bosses and others involved in the organization. Fencers move the items to "cleansers," who strip retail and anti-theft stickers and devices from the stolen items prior to them being shipped off to diverters. Diverters act as wholesalers, salespeople, or coordinators of secondary sales, often times selling the stolen goods to small to mid-sized retail chains that in turn sell the products to customers.

In this theft ring, stolen and "cleansed" merchandise was turned over to Cipriano and Vigneau in their roles as diverters, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the men, operating under the names of various shell companies, and working with others, sold large volumes of stolen merchandise via e-commerce sites such as eBay, Walmart, and Amazon. To avoid detection, unregulated third-party processors, such as PayPal, were used, tied to bank accounts controlled by Cipriano and Vigneau, prosecutors said.

According to court records, Cipriano was convicted in Rhode Island state court in 2005 and served a six-year prison sentence for conspiracy and receiving stolen goods. Additionally, Cipriano was convicted in federal court in August 2013 on a charge of trafficking counterfeit goods and was sentenced to four years and two months in federal prison.

Vigneau, convicted by a federal jury in March 1998 on charges of engaging in a continuing enterprise, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and conspiring to commit money laundering, was released from federal prison in 2020 and is currently on federal probation.

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