Highlights

• Florida pastor Robert Dell (along with his mother and wife) has been arrested and charged in relation to a "multimillion dollar" theft ring targeting Home Depot.
• Dell allegedly ran a drug recovery program at his church, but prosecutors claim he acted as a fence, buying stolen goods and reselling them for profit.
• Charging documents state that Dell manipulated vulnerable individuals into participating in the criminal scheme, resulting in a loss of over $5 million for Home Depot.

A Florida pastor has been arrested and charged in relation to a "multimillion dollar" theft ring targeting the massive home improvement chain store Home Depot.

On October 7th, the Wall Street Journal published an in-depth article about Florida pastor Robert Dell's arrest, and the details of the alleged crimes leading up to it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dell was one of five people arrested in the course of the investigation (along with Dell's mother and his wife) in August.

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The paper reported that Dell "ran a drug recovery program at what was known as The Rock Community Church and Transformation Center in St. Petersburg," Florida, and it recapped the basic elements of the investigation and ensuing arrests:

"The pastor had [allegedly] been working as a fence, the middleman buying stolen goods from thieves and reselling them for a profit, according to prosecutors. Dell was [allegedly] telling people who went to his recovery program to steal tools like drills and pin nailers from Home Depot[s] all over Florida and [to then] drop them off at his home. Using the eBay account Anointed Liquidator, he [allegedly] sold $3 million of items online since 2016, Home Depot and a search warrant affidavit said."

Largely, the WSJ examined retail theft (known in that industry as "shrink") in their reporting – but it mentioned in passing that Dell allegedly targeted congregants in active recovery from addiction. That angle was more prominent in an October 8th TheMessenger.com article, which began:

"While St. Petersburg, Fla., pastor Robert Dell projected an image as a philanthropist, shepherding addicts as they crawled their way to recovery and a normal life, prosecutors say he was organizing the theft of millions of dollars of merchandise from Home Depot ... Dell, who ran The Rock Community Church and Transformation Center, is accused of running a criminal enterprise involving the very people he professed to help.

"He has pleaded not guilty."

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On Twitter, the outlet shared a video about the arrest:

British news outlet The Independentcited charging documents, saying that Dell allegedly "demanded the crimes be carried out by threatening abuse and used his positions to manipulate vulnerable people into the scheme," adding that "Home Depot suspects he operated this scheme for more than 10 years, resulting in the loss of more than $5 [million]." Many details in the news in October appeared in an August 7th press release published by Florida's Attorney General Ashley Moody.

In that release, Attorney General Moody confirmed that "Pastor Dell faces charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and dealing in stolen property as an organizer, all felonies," and provided additional detail about Dell's alleged co-conspirators:

"Co-conspirators, Daniel Mace and Jessica Wild, [allegedly] stole the majority of the merchandise and, on average, victimized stores five to six times a day. The co-conspirators then delivered the merchandise to Pastor Dell’s house to be sold under the eBay store name: 'Anointed Liquidator.'

"According to the investigation, Dell demanded the crimes under threat of abuse and used the positions of being a former pastor and former director of a hallway house to manipulate other vulnerable people to participate in the criminal scheme. Home Depot suspects Dell operated this scheme for more than 10 years, resulting in the loss of more than $5 million."

Several financial figures appeared in the press release about Florida pastor Robert Dell's arrest. According to the AG's August press release – the estimated value of the stolen merchandise ($1.4 million), the amount of alleged eBay sales by Dell ($3 million), and the alleged costs borne by Home Depot ($5 million).