A Connecticut couple who authorities say was part of a group that plundered nearly $1 million in goods from Lululemon stores across the U.S. admitted in Ramsey County District Court on Friday to stealing from several of the retailer’s Twin Cities locations last year.
Appearing out of custody by Zoom and in separate hearings, Jadion Anthony Richards, 45, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 46, both pleaded guilty to one count of felony organized retail theft under a “global resolution” agreement that covers charges filed against them in both Ramsey and Hennepin counties for thefts at Lululemon stores in Roseville, Edina, Minneapolis and Minnetonka.
The charges brought against Richards and Lawes-Richards in November 2024 were the first for Ramsey County under a state law that took effect in August 2023 to address organized retail theft. The cases also mark the county’s first convictions.
The law was enacted after large jumps in shoplifting cases across the metro area, and several high-profile cases of organized retail crime, such as grab-and-run thefts from Best Buy locations in Maplewood, Burnsville and Blaine on Black Friday in 2021.
Richards and Lawes-Richards pleaded guilty one year to the day after they stole just shy of $5,000 worth of goods from the high-end women’s athletic wear retailer’s Rosedale mall store in Roseville. They were arrested the next day after a Lululemon organized retail crime investigator notified police they were in the Woodbury store.
As part of the plea agreement, other charges against the couple will be dismissed: a second count of organized retail theft in Ramsey County, and two counts of felony theft stemming from two cases in Hennepin County.
Because they have no prior criminal history in Minnesota, their attorneys said in court Friday, the presumptive sentences under state guidelines are stayed prison terms to probation. Restitution will also be ordered at their sentencing hearings, which are scheduled for Jan. 30.
Theft scheme explained
According to the criminal complaints, Richards had a JW Marriot key card on him when he was arrested on Nov. 14, 2024. Police recovered more than $50,000 in stolen Lululemon goods in his hotel room at the hotel’s Mall of America location in Bloomington.
The Lululemon investigator told Roseville police the couple was alleged to have stolen over $30,000 from local stores between September 2024 and November 2024, and that their group was responsible for almost $1 million in thefts across the country. They allegedly pulled off thefts in Colorado and Utah before arriving in the Twin Cities.
The group usually traveled to an area and hit up Lululemon stores over two days, the complaints say. They then went back to the East Coast, where they made “unverified exchanges” at stores — meaning with no receipts — for other goods, which were later returned to credit cards. After a week or so, the group then headed out again to commit more thefts.
The Lululemon investigator told police that Richards used at least six credit cards to process nearly a half-million in fraudulent returns, the complaints say.
The investigator explained, based on store surveillance, how the couple carried out the theft scheme:
The group worked together using tactics such as distracting store associates and blocking their view by holding up jackets. Women in the group stuffed leggings and other clothing in their own jackets or under their shirts. The investigator suspected Lawes-Richards used a strap under her clothing to secure the merchandise.
They removed security sensors using a tool, and put one on an item Richards had just bought. They always left the store together with women leading. When a theft sensor beeped, Richards stopped and showed his bag to store associates with his purchased items. The others went on their way without looking back.
Nearly four dozen charges to date
The focus of Minnesota’s organized retail theft law is on people stealing items to resell on the black market, most always online.
The law spells out that a person is guilty of organized retail theft if they’re working with at least one other person in “a retail theft enterprise,” they previously were involved in at least two separate retail thefts in a six-month period and they attempt to sell the merchandise or return it for anything of value.
The law increases the penalties compared to other theft. If stolen merchandise exceeds $5,000, a person who’s convicted could receive a prison term of up to 15 years, rather than 10 years. It includes an enhanced penalty if, during an offense, there is “a reasonably foreseeable risk of bodily harm to another.”
Minnesota prosecutors in 11 counties have filed 45 charges under the law through Nov. 7, according to Minnesota Judicial Branch data. This year, 19 charges have been filed; there were 24 in 2024. Dakota, Hennepin, Scott and Washington counties have each secured one conviction.
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