SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY RAY TIERNEY’S RETAIL THEFT CRACKDOWN RESULTS IN REPEAT OFFENDERS RECEIVING LENGTHY SENTENCES

Counters Statewide Surge in Larcenies

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the initial results of the Retail Protection Partnership, a program he created in October 2023, in response to rising rates of shoplifting nationwide and particularly in New York State, following bail and discovery reforms. The partnership program allows merchants and law enforcement to work collaboratively to investigate and successfully prosecute the top shoplifting offenders in Suffolk County. While reports of shoplifting have increased dramatically in New York and nationwide, reported retail larceny incidents in Suffolk County have decreased since the District Attorney Tierney’s Retail Protection Partnership began.

“We must protect our merchants and the jobs that come from retail businesses. In Suffolk County, you cannot steal someone else’s property. Through our Retail Protection Partnership, we are aggressively prosecuting repeat shoplifters and seeing actual results,” said District Attorney Tierney. “When criminals target our local businesses, they are not just stealing merchandise. They are threatening jobs, driving up costs for honest consumers, and destabilizing neighborhoods that depend on these stores. Our message is clear: retail theft in Suffolk County will earn you jail time, not a revolving door.”
“Retail theft has a widespread impact from the business itself down to the consumer,” said Suffolk County Police Acting Commissioner Robert Waring. “The Retail Protection Partnership has taken a major step in curtailing the behavior of shoplifters. This public-private partnership is a model that will benefit retailers and consumers, while sending a message to thieves that combatting retail theft is a priority for law enforcement in Suffolk County.”    

 “Our partnerships with local law enforcement are integral to identifying and dismantling the organized retail crime (ORC) networks and habitual offenders that repeatedly target our stores,” said Ben Dugan, CVS Executive Director, Central Investigations. “We are pleased to be part of the Retail Protection Partnership and look forward to continuing to collaborate with District Attorney Tierney as we work to combat ORC in Suffolk County.” 

“Organized retail crime and habitual retail theft is not simply a financial loss for retailers, it is a serious store and community safety consideration as well,” said Retail Council President and CEO Melissa O’Connor. “I want to thank District Attorney Tierney for partnering with us to hold crime syndicates accountable to the full extent of the law. Not only does this send a message to those who continue to steal from local stores, it furthers the ultimate goal of safer communities. We will continue to work with state and local leaders to prioritize the safety of our employees and customers.”

In October 2023, District Attorney Tierney met with retailers to discuss the heavy toll that shoplifters were causing their stores in Suffolk County. Shoplifters have been emboldened since 2020 when “bail reform” was enacted in New York. Retailers reported that several of their top shoplifting offenders bragged to store employees that they “would be back in a day,” knowing that they would be released without bail within hours of their arrest. New discovery laws in New York have also stymied prosecutions because impractical and strict timelines for discovery disclosures often result in dismissals of retail larcenies on technicalities. As a result of these meetings, the Retail Protection Partnership was formed. Members of the partnership coordinate the timely dissemination of information amongst prosecutors, retailers, and law enforcement, enabling the identification and arrest of high-impact shoplifters.

In just the past year, the Retail Protection Partnership has grown to include many of the largest retailers in Suffolk County, including Target Corporation, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ulta, Marshalls, Stop and Shop, Walgreens, Macy’s, CVS, TJX companies, and Burlington. The law enforcement members of the Retail Protection Partnership currently consist of Assistant District Attorneys, District Attorney Detective Investigators, members of each of the Suffolk County Police Department’s seven police precincts, and members of the Suffolk County Police Department’s District Attorney’s Squad.

Additionally, Suffolk County prosecutors implemented a strategy of “aggregation” under the law, allowing for the value of the products stolen in numerous misdemeanor thefts to be added together to result in a felony charge. This strategy was implemented prior to the legislature’s enactment of a similar law in July 2024. For example, one defendant was charged with 10 separate counts of Petit Larceny, a misdemeanor, for stealing from the same Walmart store in Yaphank between February 2024 and April 2024. Once the Retail Protection Partnership identified the defendant as the perpetrator in all 10 incidents, prosecutors aggregated the incidents into one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, for which he now stands indicted. 

Another strategy Suffolk County prosecutors implemented was the drafting of a new Trespass Notice, to be served by the police upon a shoplifting offender at the time of their arrest, giving notice to the shoplifter that they were no longer legally permitted to enter the store. Subsequently, if the shoplifter returns to that same store, the offender can then be charged with the misdemeanor crime of Trespass, or Burglary in the Third Degree, a Class D felony. For example, in August 2023, a defendant stole merchandise from a Walgreens in Riverhead, was apprehended, charged with petit larceny, and served with a Trespass Notice. The defendant returned to the same Walgreens in December 2023 and stole additional merchandise. On this second occasion, in addition to another petit larceny charge, law enforcement charged the defendant with Burglary in the Third Degree based on the Trespass Notice.

Results of the Retail Protection Partnership have proven successful. While shoplifting and other larcenies in Suffolk County rose from 4,499 incidents in 2022 to 5,119 incidents in 2023, following implementation of the Retail Protection Partnership program, such incidents have fallen to 5,053 within the past year.

An additional marker for the success of the Retail Protection Partnership program includes the identification of Suffolk County’s top recidivist shoplifters. To date, the District Attorney’s Office has successfully prosecuted almost half of the cases of these top offenders,  many of whom received significant sentences of incarceration. The following 15 defendants are among the top shoplifting offenders whose cases have already been adjudicated:
•    RYAN MCINTOSH, 33, undomiciled, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to one and a half to three years in prison. At the time of his arrest on that case, McIntosh was pending sentence for Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, for which he was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison, to run concurrently with his new grand larceny conviction.
•    ANITA GUARINO, 56, of Mastic Beach, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to two to four years in prison.
•    JOSE MALDONADO, 41, of Brentwood, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to two to four years in prison.
•    ESPERANZA TRICOCHE, 39, of Bay Shore, was convicted of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, and was sentenced to one and a half to three years in prison.
•    MICHAEL GIOELI, 35, of Babylon, pleaded guilty to Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to one and a half to three years in prison.
•    STEVEN DURHAM, 41, of Coram, pleaded guilty to an aggregated Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to one to three years in prison.
•    DWAYNE HUDSON, 54, of Mount Vernon, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to one year in jail.
•    TAYLOR JOHNSON, 32, of Massapequa, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of Petit Larceny, a Class A misdemeanor, and was sentenced to one year in jail.
•    MELISSA KUST, 43, of Flanders, pleaded guilty to Petit Larceny, a Class A misdemeanor, and was sentenced to the maximum of one year in jail.
•    ERIN LUTZ, 39, of Bellport, pleaded guilty to multiple misdemeanor charges of Petit Larceny and was sentenced to one year in jail.
•    PATRICK O’TOOLE, 34, of Copiague, pleaded guilty to five counts of Petit Larceny, which occurred at five different retailers, and was sentenced to one year in jail.
•    KELVIN RANSOM, 55, of Medford, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to one year in jail.
•    EMMANUEL ROSARIO, 36, of Brentwood, pleaded guilty to Robbery in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, stemming from a retail theft incident, and was sentenced to one year in jail.
•    MARION MCCLURE, 60, of Central Islip, pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was sentenced to nine months in jail.
•    ANTHONY FENNER, 35, of Hempstead, pleaded guilty to Burglary in the Third Degree, a class D felony, and was sentenced to six months in jail and is currently being supervised by probation.

Any retailer interested in joining the Retail Protection Partnership program should contact the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at:
•    www.suffolkcountyny.gov/da/Contact-Us/Contact-the-DA; or
•    Email: Crime.Strategies@suffolkcountyny.gov               

The Retail Protection Partnership program includes Assistant District Attorneys Ashley Collado, Annemarie DiBlasio, Alexandra Guidarelli, Sean Murphy, Syl-Don O’Gilvie, Kirsten Reilly, Brooke Teles, and Jeremy Waite, acting under the supervision of Intake Bureau Chief Tisha Burrows and Grand Jury Unit Chief Craig McElwee. The investigations were conducted by Detective Sergeant Thomas Groneman and Detective Jennifer Foster of the Suffolk County Police Department’s District Attorney Squad, and Research Technician Laura Zimmerman, of the District Attorney’s Office’s Crime Strategies Unit, under the overall supervision of Deputy Chief Investigator Matthew Boorman of the District Attorney’s Office.

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