The Office of Statewide Prosecution, led by Attorney General Ashley Moody, has secured a prison sentence of seven and a half years for Chanthan Scott Khouleanghak. Khouleanghak was the head of a retail theft group. The group devised a plan to buy and return new televisions at Walmart stores in Polk County, Florida. They claimed the televisions were damaged but had actually replaced them with old, broken ones. The new televisions were then sold to a dealer in Georgia.
Walmart’s loss prevention team noticed the scheme when they saw individuals returning televisions at two different stores in Polk County. The serial numbers on the returned televisions did not match the ones on the receipts. This led to the discovery that the group was buying new televisions and returning old ones for cash.
Further investigation showed that Khouleanghak had deposited checks from the Georgia dealer into his bank account. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office confirmed this when they bought televisions from the dealer with the help of Georgia authorities.
The theft group included Jorge Ortiz, Jacorri Holland, Michelle Maki Walker, Eric Grigsby, and Khristian Edwards. Ortiz is in prison, Holland and Walker have arrest warrants, Grigsby is deceased, and Edwards is under the supervision of the Florida Department of Corrections.
Khouleanghak has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and five years’ probation. He was charged with fraud, grand theft, trafficking stolen property, and cheating. He has also been ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution. The case was managed by Attorney General Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecutors.