Former pastor accused of stealing $1.4M worth of products from Home Depot
A former Florida pastor has been charged with orchestrating the theft of $1.4 million worth of merchandise from Home Depot and then selling the stolen goods on eBay as the state’s top law enforcement official highlights his apparent violation of one of the Ten Commandments declaring “thou shall not steal.”
As explained in a statement published Monday by the office of Florida’s Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody, Pinellas County-based pastor Robert Dell was charged with leading a “multimillion-dollar theft ring” following an investigation from the Florida Organized Retail Crime Exchange taskforce and other state law enforcement agencies. According to Moody, “This pastor clearly skipped over the commandment—thou shall not steal.”
“Our FORCE taskforce shut down his criminal operation stealing millions of [dollars’] worth of merchandise from Home Depot stores across the state to resell the items on eBay,” she added. “We will not tolerate organized retail theft in Florida and my office will continue to combat these criminal organizations.”
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The Florida Attorney General’s Office identified Dell as “a pastor of The Rock Church and the founder of a halfway house serving those recovering from drug addiction in St. Petersburg.” The investigation, a collaboration between the FORCE taskforce, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, revealed that Dell “worked with four accomplices to shoplift Milwaukee, Dewalt and other branded products from Home Depot stores.”
Stores targeted by Dell and his co-conspirators are located in Citrus, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota Counties. Two of his accomplices, Daniel Mace and Jessica Wild, “stole the majority of the merchandise and, on average, victimized stores five to six times a day.” As part of the scheme, they would deliver the stolen goods to Dell’s house. The pastor would then sell them on eBay using the store name “Anointed Liquidator.”
“According to the investigation, Dell demanded the crimes under threat of abuse and used the positions of being a pastor and founder of a [halfway] house to manipulate other vulnerable people to participate in the criminal scheme,” Moody’s office noted. “Home Depot suspects Dell operated this scheme for more than 10 years, resulting in the loss of more than $5 million.”
Dell’s wife, Jaclyn, and mother, Karen, have also been charged in connection with the criminal operation, specifically for “assisting in the collection, shipment and payment of the stolen goods.” Jaclyn Dell faces a conspiracy charge under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, while Karen Dell is charged with dealing in stolen property.
As for former pastor Dell, he faces charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and dealing in stolen property as an organizer. The Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution, which has a nearly 100% conviction rate for organized retail theft cases, will represent the state as legal proceedings against the defendants move forward.
Records from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office show that the Dells were all arrested on Aug. 1. Dell, 56, had his bond set at $750,000 for the three charges stemming from the criminal operation involving Home Depot. Additionally, Dell faces two drug-related charges, including possession of cocaine. Karen Dell, 72, was released on $20,000 bond Tuesday, while Jaclyn Dell, 39, remains in custody on $150,000 bond.
After news of the charges against Dell broke, the Rock Church released a statement clarifying his employment status with their faith community: “Robert Dell is not the pastor of the Rock Church. He wasn’t the founding pastor either. He was the pastor when it was named the Rock Community Church and Transformation Center, and hasn’t been a pastor for the last 2 ½ years.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
